HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES. 


(  Mis.  Doc. 
\  No.  23. 


'  1  1  l  !  IIX^J 

REFORMED  ALPHABET  AND  ORTHOGRAPHY. 


•  MEMORIAL 

of 

%  E.  DAWSON,  OF  BURLINGTON,  IOWA, 

SETTING  FORTH 


The  plan  of  a  reformed  alphabet  and  orthography ,  and  suggesting  measures 
to  extend  a  knowledge  of  it  over  the  nation. 


February  5,  1878. — Referred  to  the  Committee  on  Education  and  Labor  and  ordered 

to  be  printed. 


To  the  honorable  the  Senate  and  Souse  of  Representatives  of  the  United 
States  in  Congress  assembled : 

This  memorial,  by  N.  E.  Dawson,  of  Burlington,  Iowa,  respectfully 
represents  that  the  question  of  a  reformed  orthography  is  one  that  is 
now  agitating  a  large  number  of  the  leading  educators  of  the  country ; 
that  true  reform  in  this  direction  is  a  felt  want,  is  calculated  to  interest 
and  benefit  not  only  the  people  of  this  country  but  of  the  whole  English- 
speaking  world,  and  therefore  merits  the  eucouraging  recognition  and 
fostering  approval  of  government  in  all  judicious  efLirts  looking  toward 
its  general  dissemination ;  in  support  of  which  views  the  following  is 
submitted : 

It  has  been  observed  that,  where  an  important  invention  or  improve¬ 
ment  upon  old  methods  has  been  successfully  accomplished,  it  will  be 
found  to  have  been  not  the  production  of  any  one  man’s  unaided  efforts 
and  researches,  but  the  result  of  the  labors  of  many  intellects  working 
with  a  common  purpose  toward  a  more  or  less  well-defined  end,  each 
one  supplementing  the  attainments  of  those  who  have.preceded  him  in 
his  chosen  sphere  of  investigation,  thus  step  by  step,  point  by  point, 
approaching  the  desired  end.  To  this  law  the  phonetic  movement  in 
pursuit  of  orthographic  reform  seems  to  be  no  exception.  Its  result  is 
the  work  of  no  single  mind,  but  the  grand  total  of  the  fruits  of  the  labors 
of  many,  labors  extending  through  a  long  succession  of  ages,  and  em¬ 
blazed  with  eminent  and  historic  names,  although  the  present  designa¬ 
tion  of  the  movement — “The  Phonetic  Reform’7 — is  of  comparatively 
recent  origin. 

The  want  of  a  perfect  system  of  representing  spoken  language  was 
noted  before  the  time  of  Cicero,  and  that  illustrious  Roman  is  believed 
to  have  only  followed  in  the  footsteps  of  still  more  ancient  philosophers 
when  he  turned  his  thoughts  and  bent  his  great  faculties  to  the  task  of 

.\\ 


2 


REFORMED  ALPHABET  AND  ORTHOGRAPHY. 


preparing  a,  scheme  of  writing  bv  means  of  which  Tyro,  his  freedman, 
should  be  enabled  to  preserve  the  language  of  his  admirable  orations  as  it 
came  trom  the  lips  of  the  orator  for  the  delectation  and  instruction  of 
future  ages.  True,  that  invention  of  Cicero’s  may  have  little  more 
kihdship  with  our  phonetics  of  to-day  than  Adam  with  all  of  us;  but 
it  may  not  be  an  unpleasant  fancy  to  consider  it  the  “  little  leaven”  that 
has  coursed  up  through  the  ages  to  fruition  in  this,  the  latest  and  the 
grandest.  Since  Cicero’s  time  there  have  been  few,  if  any,  periods 
marked  by  intellectual  activity  and  national  and  individual  enterprise 
which  have  not  presented  their  quota  of  research  in  pursuit  of  a  cor¬ 
rect  orthography.  “This  subject,”  wrote  Bishop  Wilkins,  more  than 
two  hundred  years  ago,  “has  been  largely  debated  by  several  authors  of 
great  name  and  reputation  tor  learning.  Besides  those  famous  emper¬ 
ors,  Caius  Caesar  and  Octavius  Augustus,  who  both  writ  on  this  sub¬ 
ject,  Varro  likewise,  and  Apion,  and  Quintillian,  and  Priscian,  did  bestow 
much  pains  upon  the  same  inquiry  concerning  the  just  number  of  letters. 
And  in  later  times  it  hath  been  treated  of  with  great  variety  of  opinions, 
by  Erasmus,  both  the  Scaligers,  Lipsius,  Dalmasius,  Yossius,  J.  Mathias,  > 
A.  Metherchus,  D.  Malinchot,  &c.,  besides  several  of  our  own  country¬ 
men,  Sir  P.  Smith,  Bulloker,  Alexander  Gill,  and  Dr.  Wallas.”  In  En¬ 
gland  alone,  and  since  the  Elizabethan  age,  the  names  of  all  those  who 
have  directed  their  mental  energies  to  the  task  of  improving  upon  the 
faulty  English  orthography  would  require,  to  only  enumerate  them,  the 
pages  of  no  mean  volume;  and  among  those  more  or  less  active  in  these 
researches  shine  out  the  names  of  many  who  achieved  distinction  in 
church  and  state,  in  literary  and  other  pursuits:  Bright,  Willis,  Pepys, 
Bishop  Wilkins,  Wesley,  Horne  Tooke,  Walker,  Sir  John  Herschel,  Sir 
William  Jones,  Knowles,  Sheridan,  Smart,  Dickens,  Cramp,  Stoddart, 
Latham,  Erasmus  Darwin,  Max  Muller,  &c.  and  in  this  country  Ben. 
Franklin,  Pelham,  Guess,  Comstock,  Webster,  Whitney,  Worcester,  &c. 
“Nothing,”  says  Noah  Webster,  “can  be  more  disreputable  to  the  literary 
character  of  a  nation  than  the  history  of  English  orthography,  unless 
it  is  that  of  orthoepy.”  And  then  he  sets  about  the  contrivance  of  a 
scheme  by  which  to  remedy  the  defects  of  that  orthography,  having  re¬ 
jected  that  of  Dr.  Franklin.  “  The  latter  gentleman,”  he  writes,  com¬ 
piled  a  dictionary  on  his  scheme  of  reform,  and  procured  types  to  be> 
cast,  which  he  offered  to  me,  with  a  view  to  engage  me  to  prosecute  his 
design.  This  offer  I  declined  to  accept,”  &c. 

The  distinctively  phonetic  movement,  however,  owes  its  origin  largely, 
if  not  wholly,  to  the  labors  and  inventive  geuius  of  Mr.  Isaac  Pitman,  of 
Bath,  England.  Up  to  about  the  year  1837  the  letters  of  the  ordinary 
English  alphabet  had  been  almost,  if  not  quite,  uuiformly  assumed  as 
necessarily  the  material  out  of  which  the  sought  for  and  long  dreamed-of 
adequate  alphabet  must  be  constructed,  and  by  means  of  which  all  im¬ 
provement  upon  our  English  orthography  must  be  effected.  Mr.  Pitman 
was  led  by  a  happy  inspiration  to  temporarily  shake  off  this  hampering 
and  restraining  incubus  upon  the  awakening  spirit  of  orthographic 
reform  which  had  so  long  impeded  and  rendered  abortive  all  efforts  aimed 
at  such  reform.  Making  a  light  incursion  into  the  then  foreign  domain  of 
geometry,  he  fashioned  out  of  the  suitable  timber  which  he  there  dis¬ 
covered  and  boldly  appropriated  to  this  use  a  scheme  of  symbols  which, 
it  seems  to  me,  is  a  key  to  the  long  songht-for  perfect  alphabet  and 
orthography,  the  theory  of  which,  according  to  Dr.  Latham  (whose  lan¬ 
guage  is  adopted  by  Fowler  in  his  masterly  work  on  the  English  lan¬ 
guage),  some  of  the  chief  conditions  are  as  follows: 

1.  That  for  every  simple  single  sound,  incapable  of  being  represented 
by  a  combination  of  letters,  there  be  a  simple  single  sign. 


REFORMED  ALPHABET  AND  ORTHOGRAPHY. 


3 


2.  That  sounds  within  a  determined  degree  of  likeness  be  represented 
by  signs  within  a  determined  degree  of  likeness;  while  sounds  beyond 
a  certain  degree  of  likeness  be  represented  by  distinct  and  different 
signs,  and  that  uniformly. 

3.  That  no  sound  have  more  than  one  sign  to  express  it. 

4.  That  no  sign  express  more  than  one  sound. 

5.  That  the  primary  aim  of  orthography  be  to  express  the  sounds  of 
words,  and  not  their  histories. 

6.  That  changes  of  speech  be  followed  by  corresponding  changes  of 
spelling. 

Unhappily  the  idea  of  applying  this  scheme  in  giving  practical  effect 
to  Dr.  Latham's  very  generally  accepted  theory  did  not  occur  to  the  in¬ 
ventor  and  his  co  laborers,  and  hence,  while  it  may  be  said  to  have  nur¬ 
tured  into  vigorous  life  the  profession  of  verbatim  reporting,  Pitman’s 
invention  stopped  far  short  of  the  grand  results  that  might  have  been 
easily  and  shortly  attained.  Instead  of  arranging  a  printing  alphabet 
in  harmony  with  his  admirable  system  of  writing,  he  and  his  enthusiastic 
disciples  with  all  the  ardor  of  blind  faith  in  their  assured  correctness, 
proceeded  for  typographical  purposes  to  pair  the  forty  elementary 
souuds  (including  the  four  indispensable  diphthongs)  of  the  English 
language,  not  to  the  forty  geometrical,  simple,  elementary,  beautiful 
symbols  which  he  had  just  elaborated  and  applied  to  writing,  but  to  the 
twenty-six  condemned  letters  of  the  old  alphabet,  together  with  more 
than  half  as  many  more  symbols  designed  as  if  with  special  reference  to 
complexity  and  outlaudishuess  of  configuration;  and  thus  again  did 
this  nightmare  of  progress,  the  old  alphabet,  resume  its  paralyzing 
sway  and  fatally  misdirect  the  application  of  this  phonetic  scheme, 
this  beautiful  and  seemingly  obvious  and  practical  key  to  orthographic 
reform*  Is  it  strange  that  a  sense  of  the  ridiculous  should  seize  upon 
the  minds  of  the  masses  on  beholding  this  young  creature  trigged  out 
in  that  old,  seedy,  deficient  garb  eked  out  by  patches  in  an  effort  to  meet 
the  wants  of  a  perfect  stature,  and,  forestalling  a  caudid  investigation 
of  its  intrinsic  merits,  laugh  theuFonetic  Nuz”  out  of  countenance, 
silence  u  Josef”  Medill,  and  defeat  the  confirmation  of  statesman  Beau¬ 
champ  to  a  foreign  mission,  simply  because  he  is  found  to  have  at  one 
time  adopted  that  style  of  orthography  in  dealing  with  matters,  not  of 
state,  but  of  tender  sentiment  ? 

The  labors  of  Mr.  Pitman  have  been  generously  and  ably  seconded 
by  Alexander  John  Ellis  and  others  in  England,  and  supplemented  in 
this  couutry  by  the  enterprise  and  ingenuity  of  Beun  Pitman,  Audrews, 
Webster,  Lougley,  Prosser,  Graham,  Parkhurst,  Young,  Munsou,  Burns, 
Lindsley,  Leigh,  Blackmar,  &c.  Noting  as  exceptions  the  Deseret  and 
Cherokee  alphabets,  nearly  all  efforts  at  constructing  a  phonetic  print¬ 
ing  alphabet  have  continued  to  adopt  the  ordiuary  old  letters  as  the 
foundation  upon  which  to  build.  To  illustrate  what  we  deem  one  of  the 
obstacles  to  success  in  that  direction,  take  the  first  letter  of  the  old 
alphabet  retained  in  the  designed  phonetic  alphabet  to  represent  the 
elementary  sound  of  a  heard  in  pronouncing  the  word  fate.  It  must 
not,  as  one  of  the  prime  conditions  of  a  perfect  alphabet,  be  used  to 
represent  any  other  sound.  Therefore  we  must  expuuge  from  the  un- 

*  Mr.  Isaac  Pitman  first  propounded  the  idea,  which  has  been  carriid  out  by  him 
and  the  author  conjointly,  of  pbonetiz  ng  the  English  language;  but  Mr.  Hill  (the 
father  of  the  post-office  reformer),  first  publicly  advocated  such  a  chauge  in  the  printed 
appearance  of  our  lauguage  in  a  speech  delivered  at  a  phonetic  meeting  at  Birming¬ 
ham,  on  18th  July,  1843,  when  he  proposed  and  commenced  a  subscription  with  which 
the  matrices  of  three  Roman  fonts  of  typo  were  purchased.”  Essentials  of  Phonetics: 
Ellis.  (Preface.) 


4 


REFORMED  ALPHABET  AND  ORTHOGRAPHY. 


derstanding,  learn  to  forget,  all  other  sounds  of  this  letter,  which  by  long 
usage  and  severe  discipline  we  have  become  habituated  to ;  those  heard 
in  the  words  mat,  father,  care,  many,  salt ,  wash,  exhilarate courage  ;  and 
also  the  various  a  sounds  represented  by  letters  or  combinations  of  let¬ 
ters  iu  such  words  as  heart,  aunt,  ah,  guarantee,  plaid,  sirr ah,  pain,  goal, 
day,  there,  great,  reign,  they,  gauge ,  cau\,  awful,  awe,  nor,  broad,  ought, 
&e.  Here,  in  a  list  of  twenty-eight  words,  are  forty-nine  letters,  which, 
with  the  sounds  they  represent  by  virtue  of  long  usage,  will  conflict 
with  this  exclusive  application  of  the  symbol  a  in  the  minds  of  those 
accustomed  to  the  ordinary  alphabet.  Now  the  marlcs  composing  these 
forty-nine  letters  and  combinations  of  letters  aggregate  a  sum-total  of 
nearly  if  not  quite  two  hundred  and  fifty.  More  than  two  hundred 
marks,  then,  which  have  acquired  by  long  usage  a  ready  and  familiar 
meaning  to  the  English  eye  and  brain,  must  be  ejected  from  the  memory 
by  an  effort  greater,  perhaps,  and  more  sustained  than  the  long  and 
steady  discipline,  commencing  with  early  childhood,  which  has  gradually 
invested  them  with  a  more  than  conventional,  a  living  reality,  in  order 
that  the  old  Roman  letter  a  may  be  available  as  a  symbol  in  the  re¬ 
formed  or  phonetic  alphabet.  The  required  task  is  too  great,  for  that 
a  is  not  necessary  there.  Resort  at  once  to  a  simple  mark  to  symbolize 
that  simple  sound — a  mark  that  cannot  by  its  configuration,  or  associa¬ 
tion,  or  acquired  signification,  conjure  up  in  the  mind  a  single  one,  much 
less  a  host  of  those  bewildering  shapes  to  trip  and  entangle  and  befog 
the  steady  and  placid  and  natural  flow  of  thought.  Then  will  Horrfe 
Tooke’s  day-dream  of  u  winged  words  ”  have  reached  the  frontiers  of  the 
visionary  and  sighted  the  misty  summits  of  the  real. 

But,  again,  this  a  is  only  one  in  this  model  alphabet  (as  compared  with 
others  thus  far  presented  to  the  world)  which  consists  ot' forty  sym¬ 
bols  corresponding  to  the  small  Roman  letters,  forty  to  the  capitals, 
forty  to  the  italics,  forty  to  the  script,  &c.,  (more  than  half  of  which 
have  acquired  an  almost  intrinsic  signification  by  habitual  and  familiar 
usage  iu  the  old  alphabet),  making  at  least  one  hundred  and  sixty  (160) 
complex  aud  diverse  forms  to  represent  the  forty  elementary  sounds 
which  compose  our  spoken  language.  Now,  as  the  already  noted  diffi¬ 
culties  connected  with  the  use  of  the  a  (which  we  might  have  enlarged 
upon  enormously  by  giving  two  other  powers  to  this  letter,  as  does  the 
acutely-distinguishing  ear  of  Worcester,  and  marshaliug  a  fresh  array 
of  equivalents,  which  is  possible  to  the  extent  of  at  least  one  hundred 
and  forty  letters  in  combination  in  more  than  seventy  additional  words) 
will  be  repeated  through  each  of  the  three  or  more  additional  styles  of 
letter  used,  we  may  multiply  those  difficulties  by  four  times  forty 
(4  x  40  =  160),  one  hundred  and  sixty,  and  contrast  the  result  thus  ob¬ 
tained  with  the  result  of  representing  each  of  the  forty  simple  sounds 
uniformly  by  a  simple  mark  in  pursuance  of  accepted  theories,  easily 
doue,  and  giving  a  beautiful,  practicable  alphabet,  capable  of  being 
learned  in  a  few  hours,  and  in  accord  with  the  conditions  required  by 
Latham’s  theory  of  a  full  and  perfect  alphabet.  Thus  it  appears  that  as 
that  phonetic  alphabet  was  an  improvement  upon  the  old,  so  it  is  sus¬ 
ceptible  of  being  vastly  improved  upon  by  a  logical  reduction  to  practice 
of  the  theory  upon  which  it  was  founded. 

*  Now  as  to  the  necessity  which  has  called  so  long  aud  loudly  for  the 
reform  of  the  old  English  alphabet  and  orthography,  now  in  common  use. 

Because  of  the  respect  with  which  we  look  upon  the  opinions  of  the 
past,  especially  when  advanced  by  eminent  aud  historic  uatnes ;  be¬ 
cause  ot  the  caution  and  reserve  with  which  we  are  apt  to  receive  and 
consider  opinions  that  seem  novel  and  of  receut  conception,  aud  par- 


REFORMED  ALPHABET  AND  ORTHOGRAPHY. 


5 


ticularly  because  of  the  impossibility  of  my  presenting  this  matter  more 
effectively,  I  will  here  draw  copiously  from  statements  contained  in  a 
paper  (in  the  form  of  a  memorial)  presented  in  the  national  legislative 
body  of  his  country  by  a  statesman  who  bore  the  illustrious  name  of 
Edmund  Burke,  a  paper  forcibly  setting  forth  the  crying  want  of  refor¬ 
mation  in  English  orthography,  even  at  that  early  day, but  advancing  a 
totally  inadequate  and  impracticable  scheme  for  its  accomplishment, 
and,  therefore,  like  all  other  schemes  founded  ou  the  ordinary  English 
alphabet,  a  failure : 

I  have,  during  some  eight  years,  been  considering  the  importance  and  practicability 
of  a  thorough  reformation  of  our  written  language,  and  a  strict  conformation  thereof 
to  the  spoken.  I  have  at  length  come  to  some  results,  which  I  wish  extensively  to 
communicate,  especially  among  the  people  of  this  country. 

Spoken  language  has  usually  originated  among  the  unenlightened,  and,  by  its  own 
ductility,  in  its  progress  toward  perfection,  it  keeps  pace  with  general  national  improve¬ 
ment.  But  with  the  writing  of  this  language  it  is  far  otherwise.  By  the  exactness  and 
stability  of  its  forms,  it  must  remain  unchanged,  unless  by  general  consent.  On  these 
accounts,  chiefly,  the  speaking  and  the  writing  of  the  same  language  do  invariably, 
without  special  preventions,  tend  toward  a  separation,  though  very  slowly,  and  there¬ 
fore  without  notice  or  alarm.  Hence,  by  convention,  they  should  be  brought  together, 
when  all  that  is  wrong  in  writing  should  be  corrected,  and  when  means  should,  if  pos¬ 
sible,  be  instituted  to  keep  them  together.  At  the  commencement  of  the  last  century, 
the  writing  of  our  language  was  far,  indeed,  from  perfection.  From  tbat  time  its  ca¬ 
pacity  for  a  full  and  simple  representation  of  our  increasing  number  of  primary  sounds 
has  been  gradually  diminishing,  till  it  has  finally  become  intolerable,  rising  from  many, 
especially  foreigners,  the  cry  for  reformation,  radical  and  speedy,  if  possible  ;  hut  at 
any  rate,  a  reformation. 

In  obedience  to  this  loud  and  pressing  call,  many  in  this  age  of  improvement  have 
projected,  and  some,  even,  have  attempted  such  a  reformation,  though  as  yet  without 
much  success.  But  should  my  vast  labor  upon  this  work  also  prove  unavailing,  yet 
these  facts  do  actually  encourage  me  iu  it,  for  they  do  all  show  that  such  a  reformation 
is  greatly  needed;  that  it  is  now  crowding  hard  upon  us  ;  that  it  is  struggling  vigor¬ 
ously  for  existence  ;  that  it  must  soon  burst  into  being;  and,  with  might,  majesty,  a<  d 
glory,  bless  our  thrifty  nation,  and  all  who  use  our  rapidly-spreading  literature. 
Though  this  may  appear  to  some  strange  and  paradoxical,  yet  it  i^  iu  fact  true. 

Well  aware  that  this  is  a  great  work,  requiring  both  talent  and  enterprise,  and  the 
favor  of  Heaven  likewise ;  well  aware,  also,  that  this  grand  concern  of  patriotism, 
philanthropy,  and  religion  is  depending  solely  on  the  pleasure  of  The  English  re¬ 
public  of  letters,  the  authors  and  publishers,  yet  it  seemed  that  I  could  do  something 
toward  forwarding  so  desirable  an  object  by  showing  plainly  to  my  countrymen,  and, 
as  far  as  possible,  to  the  English  race,  the  vast  necessity  and  the  immense  utility  of  a 
simple  and  complete  alphabet,  containing  one  distinct,  visible,  invariable  sign  for  each 
of  our  forty  important  primary  sounds,  and  an  orthography  relieved  of  all  redundan¬ 
cies  and  complexity,  and  at  agreement,  in  the  main,  at  least,  with  the  most  generally 
approved  standards  of  English  orthoepy.  This  is,  indeed,  my  humble  aim  and  design, 
while  I  seek  for  Heaven’s  blessings  aud  the  smiles  of  the  nation  and  of  the  English 
race  upon  the  favored  ones  who  shall  accomplish  the  task  I  have  begun,  but  may  not 
live  or  be  able  to  accomplish.  Be  assured,  then,  that  I  have  not  entered  on  this  busi¬ 
ness  without  first  counting  the  cost. 

I  will  now  endeavor  to  give  the  chief  reasons  for  this  reformation  : 

1.  Our  spoken  language,  on  account  of  its  combined  excellencies,  its  variety,  copi¬ 
ousness,  strength,  melody,  aud  majesty,  is,  to  say  the  least,  one  of  the  best  now  living 
in  the  world ;  while  somehow  its  written  form,  by  its  astonishing  deficiencies  aud  re¬ 
dundancies,  is,  as  far  as  I  know,  quite  the  worst  in  the  world,  not  to  except,  on  some 
accounts,  even  the  French.  This  is  a  fact,  I  conclude,  none  will  deny,  and,  of  course, 
it  needs  no  proof.  Now,  who  would  not  strongly  desire  that  this  valuable  and  refined 
language  should  be  furnished  with  a  dress  in  natural  and  decent  harmony  with  its 
beauty  and  worth,  fiiguity  and  glory?  Let  our  senses  of  consistency,  of  propriety,  of 
congruity,  and  of  honor  also,  be  here  exercised,  and  produce  their  natural  and  legit¬ 
imate  fruits. 

2.  Our  alphabet  is  both  redundant  and  deficient.  Four  of  our  twenty-six  letters  are 
useless,  of  course  greatly  injurious — 3,  j,  q ,  and  x,  their  place  being  supplied  by  other 
letters  already  and  necessarily  in  the  alphabet.  We  have,  therefore,  at  most,  but 
twenty-two  available  letters  to  represent  our  primary  sounds,  which  are  at  least  forty. 
There  have  been  many  doubts  and  decisions  against  w,  also,  as  redundant ;  but  I  have 
fiually  concluded  to  retain  it,  believing  it  to  represent  different  degrees  of  a  very  light 
consonant  sound  peculiar  to  itself,  in  unison  with  the  vowel-sound  of  u  in  full,  aud  o 


6 


REFORMED  ALPHABET  AND  ORTHOGRAPHY. 


in  wolf.  We  have,  then,  bat  two  more  letters  than  half  as  many  as  we  do  absolutely 
need.  Who  can  realize  this  and  not  advocate  an  immediate  supply  of  eigh  een  new 
ones,  that  every  important  primary  sound  may  have  one  and  its  own  peculiar  mark  to 
represent  i  to  the  eye  ? 

Our  said  twenty-two  letters  were  once  enough,  doubtless,  to  represent  all  the  ele¬ 
mentary  souuds  then  in  use.  But  th'8  number  for  ages  remaining  the  same,  and  the 
oral  language  the  whole  time  improving  and  becoming  more  and  more  copious,  it  lias 
now  become  extremely  deficient.  What,  then,  should  be  done  ?  Surely,  as  goods  in¬ 
crease,  so  should  store-room.  As  children  in  a  family  multiply,  so  should  appropriate 
names  to  represent  and  distinguish  them.  Hence,  truly,  as  the  primary  sounds  of 
any  language  are  added,  they  should  be  marked  with  additional  appropriate  letters. 
What,  strange  and  ridiculous  shifts  and  expedients  have  we  been  driven  to  that  we 
might  somehow  possibly  get  along  with  the  old  alphabet!  What  would  you  think  of 
a  tiller  of  the  ground  who  had  for  years  at  vast  expense  growed  twice  as  much  corn  as 
he  could  either  dispose  of  or  accommodate  with  room  ;  or  of  the  condition  of  the  fam¬ 
ily  or  a  school  containing  forty  children  with  only  twenty-two  names  for  the  whole! 
Worse  than  this,  indeed,  is  it  for  us  to  have  but  twenty-two  letters  to  represent  and 
distinguish  our  forty  different  primary  sounds.  Of  course  we  must  necessarily  put  a 
number  of  very  different  sounds  ou  the  same  letter,  as  some  four  or  five  on  a ;  about 
as  many  on  o,  &c\;  all  unavoidably  bringing  on  the  learner  much  useless  labor  and  vex¬ 
atious  embarrassment,  causing  even  years  of  the  precious  time,  liberty,  comfort,  and  joy 
of  our  dear  children  to  be  worse  than  thrown  away.  Expunge  the  four  useless  letters,  and 
add  eighteen  new  ones,  and  you  will  do  much  toward  perfecting  the  alphabet  and 
bringing  up  the  written  to  the  spoken  language,  and  cause  an  immense  saving  in  lit¬ 
erary  education  and  business.  Is  not  here,  then,  a  good  reason  for  a  radical  and  thor¬ 
ough  reformation  ? 

Another  reason  for  this  reformation,  and  a  principal  one,  is  the  many  different  methods 
in  the  old  orthography  of  expressing  the  same  sounds,  and  that  by  sounded  letters.  I  have 
already  discovered  one  hundred  and  eighty-one.  Forty  such  methods  are  all  that  we 
need.  Of  course  one  hundred  and  forty-one  of  them  are  redundant  and  useless.  More 
may  remain  to  be  discovered,  but  probably  not  many.  This  is  an  astonishing  and 
doleful  fact,  causing  by  itself  alone  about  four  and  a  half  times  the  otherwise  neces¬ 
sary  labor  of  learning  to  read,  as  is  demonstrated  by  dividing  the  said  one  hundred 
and  eighty-one,  the  whole  number,  by  forty,  the  whole  necessary  number.  Indeed, 
this  would  be  true  were  all  these  different  methods  of  expression  simple,  distinct,  and 
uniform.  But  they  are  interwoven,  implicated,  and  enveloped  in  a  thousand  tang  es 
and  witchknots.  To  extricate  and  unfold  these  would  puzzle  and  perplex  even  a 
philosopher,  if  he  were  now  for  the  first  time  put  to  the  task.  Although  you  who  early 
become  what  are  usually  called  good  spellers  and  readers,  and  have  in  better  days 
forgotten  most  of  the  many  educational  afflictions,  hardships,  and  torments  of  your 
dependent,  confiding,  obedient,  and  buoyant  childhood,  may  not  at  once,  perhaps,  be 
ready  to  acknowledge  the  truth  of  this  story,  yet  the  great  expense  of  our  hard-earned 
money  in  common  primary  schooling;  the  quantity  of  our  ch  ldreu’s  time  spent  in 
irksome,  stupefying,  and  demoralizing  confinement — the  privation  of  their  many  in¬ 
nocent  and  keenly  relished  juvenile  pleasures  aud  enjoyments — and  the  loss  of  their  com¬ 
fort,  health,  and  often  even  of  life,  during  years  spent  upon  this  almost  inexplicable 
snarl — upon  our  very  deficient,  and  our  redundant  alphabet — our  clumsy,  complicated, 
and  barbarous  orthography,  both  the  most  shapeless,  ugly,  and  inconvenient  to  be  found 
among  all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  tells  its  sad  reality,  and  tells  it  with  an  iron  voice  and  a 
hundred  tongues. 

I  beg  you  here  to  allow  me  to  illustrate  a  little  freely.  Take,  for  example,  a,  the 
only  pure  vowel  in  our  whole  written  language,  all  the  others  being  sometimes  used 
as  cousonants.  It  should  mean  a  as  in  hate,  and  nothing  else,  and  no  other  letter  or 
letters  should  mean  a.  But  what  is  the  fact  ?  Why,  a  not  only  means  a,  but  it  also 
means  &u  as  in  hall,  and  a  as  in  part,  and  ah  as  in  sirrah,  and  ah  as  in  hat,  and  bh  as 
in  wash,  and  uh  as  in  exhilarate,  aud  eh  as  in  auy,  aud  Ih  as  in  courage — nine  differ¬ 
ent  meanings.  But  this  is  by  no  means  the  extent  of  the  difficulty.  For  e  sometimes 
means  a,  as  in  the  contracts  e’er,  ne’er;  also  ei  as  in  eight,  aud  ey  as  iu  they.  There 
is,  however,  a  worse  trouble  still ;  for  o  sometimes  means  au  aud  o  the  same  as  a  ;  and 
aa  sometimes  means  ii,  and  ah,  and  uh  the  same  as  a.  Moreover,  e,  ei,  and  ey,  like  a, 
sometimes  mean  ab.  I  might  go  on  and  double  the  length  of  this  strange  account; 
but  let  this  suffice.  Now  what  a  snarl,  puzzle,  maze,  and  labyrinth,  for  a  child,  or  even 
a  philosopher,  to  develop  and  disenthrall.  Well  might  the  dear  little  boy,  who  had 
not  become  entirely  benumbed  at  school,  nor  there  lost  quite  all  his  native  genius  and 
inquisitiveness,  in  the  simplicity  of  his  heart  exclaim,  “Why,  master,  it  seems  a  means 
most  everything,  and  most  everything  means  a,  and  how  shall  I  know  what  to  call 
them  ?”  But,  ou  some  accounts,  it  is  worse  with  e,  i,  o,  and  u,  especially  as  each  is 
sometimes  used  as  a  consonant.  On  quitting  the  vowels  at  present,  let  me  state  a  few 
strange  facts.  I  have  already  discover  d  not  less  than  twenty-three  different  methods 
of  expressing  the  short  simple  sound  uh,  or  u  as  in  duck ;  fourteen  of  expressing  eh,  or 


REFORMED  ALPHABET  AND  ORTHOGRAPHY. 


7 


e  as  in  met;  eleven  of  expressing  e,  or  e  as  in  mete;  and  eleven  of  expressing  fh,  or  i 
as  in  pin.  In  searching  among  the  consonants,  I  tind  things,  in  this  respect,  very  bad,% 
though  not  so  bad  as  among  the  vowels.  In  one  instauce  I  have  found  eleven,  in 
another  eight,  and  in  another  six  different  methods  of  expressing  the  same  sound. 
This  is  probably  the  most  embarrassing  aud  vexatious  evil  found  within  the  precincts 
of  our  literature,  or  that  of  any  other  nation  ;  and  it  should,  if  possible,  be  expelled. 

The  grievous  cumbrance  of  silent  letters  is  another  and  a  strong  argument  for  a  ref¬ 
ormation.  With  these  our  writing  and  printing  have  become  loaded  and  clogged. 
Though  some  of  them  are  sometimes  used  to  mark  some  particular  sound  of  some  other 
letter,  as  e  to  mark  the  sound  of  o  in  note,  aud  a  in  hate;  yet  generally  they  are 
entirely  useless — nothing  but  old  rubbish  in  the  way.  These  were  doubtless  once  all 
sounded ;  for  who  could  be  such  a  horrid  misanthrope  as  to  have  put  them  in,  or  any 
one  of  them,  without  just  occasion  ?  But  fact  also  proves  this  in  some  cases,  which  will 
settle  the  doctrine  for  the  whole.  Take  for  example  the  word  Wednesday ;  this  was 
originally  written  Woden’s  day,  or  the  day  of  Woden,  an  ancient  British  idol.  For 
ease  of  pronunciation  and  pleasantness  of  sound,  it  has,  in  course  of  time,  become 
changed  to  Wednesday.  This  teaches  us  how  we  came  by  the  silent  d  aud  e  in  that 
■word.  The  case  is  similar,  I  conclude,  with  regard  to  such  letters  in  all  other  words. 
Our  written  language  has  so  far  improved  aud  changed  from  what  it  formerly  was, 
that  the  sounds  once  marked  by  these  letters  are  discontinued,  while  the  letters  them¬ 
selves  are  still  retained,  a  heavy ,  useless  burden,  because  none  had  conventional  authority 
to  throw  them  out.  They  at  leugth  seem  to  have  acquired  a  kind  of  sacredness,  like 
the  old  wooden  gods  of  the  ancient  Hawaiians  displaced  by  new  ones,  and  set  outside 
of  their  temples,  which  the  celebrated  Captain  Cook  molested  at  the  forfeiture  of  his 
life.  Aud  perhaps  I  ought  to  look  out,  lest  I,  for  molesting  these  old  silent  letters,  should 
share  the  same  fate. 

Without  a  reformation,  this  evil  is  still  slowly  but  constantly  increasing.  I  well 
remember  when  some  letters,  now  silent,  were  sounded.  There  are  now  some  lettt-rs 
in  a  state  of  transition  from  souud  to  silence,  as  ts  iu  priests,  th  in  cloths.  But  there 
is  another  change  going  onward  iu  our  language,  though  more  slowly  still.  Another 
sound  is  becoming  extant,  requiring  another  letter  and  another  syllable,  all  as  yet 
without  any  additional  marking,  as  in  floiur,  oAur„  prisAin,  spasAm.  More  than  all 
this,  there  is  a  new  primary  sound,  coming  slowly  into  existence,  and  used  in  several 
interjections.  It  is  a  deep  guttural  mute,  formed  with  open  mouth,  by  closing  the 
glottis.  This  has  never  been  marked  with  an  appropriate  letter;  nor  has  it,  to  my 
knowledge,  before  been  noticed.  It  is  possible  that  some  primary  sounds  have  also 
been  going  slowly  out  of  existence.  Thus  time  operates  ou  language,  as  a  river  on  the 
adjacent  land,  taking  off  in  one  place  and  building  on  in  another.  All  these  changes 
in  oral  language  call  for  corresponding  chauges  iu  the  writ-en. 

The  mere  preparations  for  the  knowledge  valuable  in  itself  have  cost  quite  too  much.  The 
expense  of  money,  time,  and  toil,  laid  out  ou  the  tools,  scaffolding,  aud  other  prepara¬ 
tions  for  raising  the  temple  of  knowledge,  has  prevented  much  pleasant  and  useful 
labor  upon  the  glorious  building  itself.  Therefore,  our  alphabet  and  orthography,  also 
our  grammar  and  chirography  too,  if  you  please,  essential  parts  of  such  preparation, 
should  be  rendered  much  more  simple  aud  easy,  and,  ivithal,  a  much  more  agreeable  part 
of  a  primary  education.  This  would  give  our  children  much  time,  now  worse  than 
thrown  away  in  sore  and  ruinous  confinement,  to  be  pleasantly  employed  in  the  noble, 
captivating,  and  delightful  business  of  storing  up  treasures  of  useful  knowledge,  ap¬ 
propriate  to  their  age,  inclination,  and  genius — such  as  oral  language,  natural  history, 
and  the  rudiments  of  numbers,  of  some  mechanic  arts,  of  music,  of  physiology,  and  of 
the  physical  sciences  in  general,  &c.  This  topie  would  furnish  matter  for  a  long 
discourse,  but  I  cannot  now  stay  about  it.  Though  a  short  hint,  may  it  prove  a  sea¬ 
sonable  and  efficient  one  to  all  parents  and  other  teachers,  to  all  officers,  counselors, 
and  helpers  in  an  early,  domestic,  and  common  school  education.  “I  speak  as  unto 
wise  men  ;  judge  ye  what  I  say.” 

By  neglecting  this  reformation,  we  give  other  nations  the  advantage  over  us.  Whether 
considered  with  regard  to  our  own  internal  national  concerns,  or  to  our  comparison 
with  other  nations,  this  furnishes  a  new  and  considerable  article  of  political  economy. 
This  argument  must  touch  our  national  pride  and  our  patriotism  in  a  tender  spot. 
Knowledge  is  wealth  and  power,  and,  in  connection  with  judgment  and  virtue,  if  is 
wisdom.  Do  think,  then,  of  the  three  years  saved  in  a  primary  education,  aud  of  the 
four,  when  a  classic  and  professional  is  also  included,  all  to  be  devoted  to  the  pleasant, 
and  rapid  acquisition  of  the  most  valuable  and  available  knowledge.  Think,  also,  of 
the  immense  object  of  saving  one-third  in  learning  the  art  of  writing,  aud  in  all  liter¬ 
ary  business,  public  and  private;  but,  above  all,  take  into  sober  consideration  the 
vastly  superior  literary  facilities  furnished  by  the  simple  and  complete  alphabets,  and 
the  pure  and  natural  orthographies  of  some  of  the  old  nations,  and  more  especially 
those  of  some  small  nations  lately  arisen  from  a  state  of  totally  illiterate  barbarism, 
such  as  the  Cherokees  and  the  Sandwich  Islanders. 


8 


REFORMED  ALPHABET  AND  ORTHOGRAPHY. 


Another  argument  is,  the  great  increase  of  the  English  and  the  Anglo- American  en  terprise 
and  power.  The  many  improvements  among  this  peculiar  and  distinguished  race  of 
men,  especially  since  the  commencement  of  the  last  century,  furnish  a  good  argument 
to  sustain  the  case  in  hand.  In  accomplishing  this  grand  affair,  so  necessary  and  so  vast 
in  its  consequences,  we  should  be  acting  worthy  of  our  race  and  name ;  worthy  of  our¬ 
selves.  Will  you  now  just  take  a  glance  at  the  rapid  advance  of  this  noble  section  of 
human  (of  Enoch  and  Noah's)  posterity  during  these  one  hundred  and  forty-four  years, 
notwithstanding  all  our  grievous  embarrassments  and  hinderances — their  advance,  I 
mean,  in  general  learning,  in  the  various  solid  and  useful  sciences,  in  the  many  me¬ 
chanic  and  liberal  arts,  in  agriculture  and  commerce,  in  civil  and  religious  light  and 
liberty,  and  in  their  many  successful  inventions  and  efforts  for  the  benefit  of  our  own 
sort  of  people,  and  for  the  general  elevation,  improvement,  and  amelioration  of  the 
condition  and  prospects  of  mankind.  Consider,  also,  the  hasty  and  gigantic  growth, 
within  this  term,  of  the  English  and  American  wealth  and  influence  in  the  earth,  and 
the  swift  extension  of  our  language  in  many  and  populous  nations,  and  in  all  hemi¬ 
spheres  ;  thus,  so  far,  fairly  promising,  according  to  the  strong  opinion  of  some  learned 
men,  to  become  universal;  and  then  say  whether  English  comistency  and  English 
glory  do  not  imperiously  demand  corresponding  enterprise  for  the  thorough  reforma¬ 
tion  of  the  elements  of  our  wide-spreading  literature,  and  for  bringing  them  forward 
from  where  the  dark  ages  left  them,  up  to  the  present  English  wants  and  demands,  to 
the  high  and  noble  aims  of  this  people,  and  to  a  congruous  level  with  our  other  gen¬ 
eral  standards  in  this  eventful  and  improving  age.  Now,  who  of  our  blood  and  spirit 
and  tongue  can  resist  this  argument  ? 

The  great  helps  which  this  reformation  ivould  afford  in  the  general  concerns  of  education 
is  my  last  argument.  This  is  rather  a  compend  of  arguments,  which,  however,  have  a 
strong  relationship  among  themselves.  I  will  just  notice  these  in  proper  order. 

1.  It  would  annihilate  the  vast  and  endless  task  of  learning  to  spell  the  very  num¬ 
erous  and  strangely  written  words  of  our  language,  which  have  been,  by  mere  dint  of 
memory,  necessarily  learned,  each  by  itself,  without  much  assistance  from  general  rules, 
for  the  sounds  of  the  words  would,  in  writing,  invariably  suggest  the  proper  letters.  Think 
of  the  years  that  would  be  saved  from  this  tiresome  work. 

2.  It  would  pi  event  almost  all  the  expense  of  learning  to  read  well  the  whole  En¬ 
glish  language,  for,  after  the  alphabet  shall  be  well  learned,  the  letters  would  always  invariably 
suggest  the  proper  sounds.  Speed  would  be  acquired  of  course  by  use  and  habit,  and  ac¬ 
cent,  emphasis,  and  inflexions  would  all  be  natural,  as  in  common  speaking,  provided 
what  is  read  be  previously  understood  by  the  learner  or  practitioner,  and  none  othei' 
should  ever  be  read  vocally,  and  cannot  be,  without  damage  in  the  important  art  of  read¬ 
ing. 

3.  This  proposed  reformation  would  save  about  one-third  of  the  usual  expense  of 
learning  chirography,  or  the  art  of  writing;  for  the  capital  and  small  letters,  though 
of  different  size,  are  exactly  of  the  same  form.  From  these  three  sources,  all  combined, 
r.hei  e  will,  I  think,  arise  a  saving.of  three  years  in  a  good  primary  education,  and  of  four, 
when  a  classic  and  professional  one  is  included.  What  an  immense  object  this  would 
be  for  the  rising  generations,  especially  of  republican  citizens!  It  would,  indeed, 
nearly  double  the  worth  of  time  in  childhood  and  early  youth. 

4.  It  would  render  common  learning  much  more  pleasant  and  captivating  to  children ; 
for,  what  was  before  uninteresting  and  hard  is  banished,  and  all  things  are  now  made 
simple  and  easy ;  consequently  the  progress  would  be  rapid  and  delightful. 

5.  It  would,  with  proper  books,  render  parents,  in  general,  after  they  shall  have 
learned  the  reformed  alphabet,  at  once  the  competent  teachers  of  their  own  children, 
at  home,  in  almost  the  whole  of  what  has  been  considered  a  good  common  literary  edu¬ 
cation;  thus  preventing  most  of  the  expense,  the  sufferings,  the  dangers,  the  vicious¬ 
ness,  and  the  many  enormous  evils  of  the  common  schools.  Had  I  time,  I  should  like 
to  dwell  on  this  very  important  matter,  and  explain  and  illustrate  at  large  all  things 
therein.  But  I  cannot  now. 

6.  It  would,  by  its  sure  consequences,  add  much  to  the  health,  promise,  comfort, 
safety,  and  happiness  of  children;  a  matter,  indeed,  which  all  parents  and  philan¬ 
thropists  should  duly  appreciate  and  earnestly  seek  for.  To  show  this  in  detail 
would  take  too  much  time  for  the  present. 

7.  It  would,  in  fine,  contribute  much  toward  a  thing  greatly  to  be  desired,  espe¬ 
cially  in  all  states  or  nations  of  republican  government  and  free  institutions — an  easily 
self-supporting  system  of  general  and  liberal  education  for  both  sexes,  adequate  to  the  probable 
or  chosen  business  af  life,  to  be  completed  at  an  age  between  sixteen  and  tiventy  years. 

1  have  now  presented  plainly  before  you,  eight  of  the  chief  reasons  for  the  complete 
and  speedy  reformation  of  the  writing  of  our  excellent  and  worthy  language;  which 
writing,  or  mode  of  representing  it  to  the  mind  by  sight,  has  long  been  intolerable,  is 
still  growing  worse  and  worse,  is  a  disgrace  to  an  enlightened  people,  and  an  unseemly 
stain  upon  the  fair  countenance  of  our  national  glory.  And  which  of  these  reasons 
\  can  you  point  out  as  futile  or  weak? 

\  The  next  thing  I  should  do  is,  to  show  you  the  possibility  and  feasibleness  of  this  reforma • 

\ 


9 


REFORMED  ALPHABET  AND  ORTHOGRAPHY. 

I  [  1 

Hon.  Some  whom  I  respect  more  for  their  erqd^tipd  tuan  for  enterprise  have 

spoken  discouragingly  on  this  subject.  But  it  is  by  no  means  so  with  all.  The  vast  im¬ 
portance  of  the  thing,  however,  1  believe  ia  gel  fufiy  conceded.  Although  it  would, 
be  a  new  thing  in  the  world,  and  a  groat  alao.aBd  evba  the  greatest  that  was  ever 
accomplished  by  human  agency,  aud  although  many  have  failed  in  their  attempts  to 
produce  ir,  yet  I  by  no  means  despair;  for  this  is  beyond  dispute,  a  race,  a  day,  and  a 
nation  of  wonders.  Men,  especially  men  of  our  origin  and  kindred,  have  not  yet  done 
their  best,  nor  their  mightiest.  We  are  now  entering  upon  an  age  of  light,  peace,  and 
improvement,  su  h  as  the  world  has  never  seen  ;  an  age  to  be  distinguished  by  bold¬ 
ness  in  conception,  skill  in  planuing,  and  success  in  achievement.  Great  and  unheard 
of  things  are  to  be  devised,  expected,  undertaken,  and  accomplished.  Compared  with 
what  men  might  be,  and  what,  in  som ejavored,  some  “golden,”  some  millennial  age,  they 
probably  will  be,  there  is  now  passing  over  the  stage  of  life  and  action  a  mere  dwarf,  or 
wreck  of  the  human  race. 

Men  can  and  will  yet  do  more  than  they  ever  have  done,  and  leave  behind  them 
stupendous  monuments  of  wisdom,  rather  than  those  of  folly,  such  as  the  ancients  did 
in  Egypt  and  other  parts  of  the  world.  The  summit  of  human  efficiency  has  never  yet 
been  reached.  Look  forward  with  raised  expectation,  and  the  eye  of  faith,  aud  behold 
the  wise  and  worthy  wonders  which  shall  be  accomplished  when  war  shall  cease,  and 
the  blessings  of  light,  and  virtue,  and  Christianity  shall  pervade  the  earth.  Why  not, 
then,  in  the  early  stage,  and  incipient  progress  of  this  age  of  philosophic,  philanthropic, 
and  Christian  efficiency,  and  as  a  chief  mea.iS  of  hastening  it  forward — why  not  appre¬ 
hend,  attempt,  and  bring  to  pass  so  great  and  so  good  a  thing  as  the  conformation  of 
our  written  to  our  spoken  language  ?  This  is  indeed  a  matter  of  interest  and  of  great 
necessity,  and  would  be  of  unspeakable  benefit  to  all  the  English  world  ;  but  more  par¬ 
ticularly  to  this  country  of  republican  government  at  d  of  free  popular  institutions.- 
It  would  truly  produce  an  Augustan  age  in  English  literature,  science,  liberal  learn¬ 
ing,  and  general  improvement,  and  mark  the  present  as  an  era  of  distinguished  luster. 

But,  after  all,  this  is,  in  itself,  not  only  a  possible,  but  an  easy  work.  We  are  kept 
from  its  accomplishment  more  by  cobweb  than  by  adamantine  chains.  The  obstructions 
exist  more  in  fancy  than  in  fact.  On  subjects  of  this  nature,  we  are  too  apt  to  startle 
at  real  or  supposed  difficulties,  and  to  imagiue  them  insurmountable.  We  take  fright 
at  monsters  of  our  own  creating,  and  run  from  apprehended  to  real  evils.  And  how 
long  must  it  be  so? 

Now  to  the  case  in  hand.  Let  the  authors,  editors,  and  publishers  of  books  and  pa¬ 
pers  so  agree,  or  consent,  and  the  work  is  done  at  once,  and  done  with  the  utmost  ease! 
And  who  can  say,  in  this  age  of  light,  skill,  and  enterprise,  that  such  agreement  or 
consent  cannot  be  obtained  ? 

Notwithstanding  all  the  hindrances  from  various  quarters,  what  immense  improve¬ 
ments  aud  useful  inventions  have  occurred  to  bless  the  world  since  the  great  astrono¬ 
mer,  Galileo,  of  Florence,  was  so  cruelly  persecuted  for  his  discoveries  in  astronomy  ; 
since  the  severe  punishment,  even  in  England,  of  the  honest  inventor  of  the  first  water 
saw-mill;  and  especially  within  seventy, or  eighty  years  past.  Now,  shall  we  of  this 
age,  and  this  country,  be  afraid  of  light  and  truth — of  investigation  and  project — of 
invention  and  experiment,  for  the  good  of  the  nation  and  of  mankind  ?  Will  you,  in¬ 
deed,  be  ready  to  persecute  and  punish  the  patient,  assiduous,  and  self-sacrificing  mod¬ 
ern  inventor  and  reformer  with  ridicule,  reproach,  and  scorn,  and  call  him  1  ‘  one-idead 
enthusiast,”  “  narrow-minded  schemer,”  or  “  Utopian  projector  ?”  Let  not  this  be  the 
bitter  reward  of  these  devoted  patriots  and  philanthropists,  especially  in  this  day  and 
land  of  free  and  independent  inquiry,  and  of  large  and  liberal  views.  In  all  things  of 
this  nature,  let  us  act  according  to  the  dictates  of  true  honor  and  impartial  justice. 

But  I  will  argue  the  possibility  and  feasibleness  of  this  project  from  what  has 
already  taken  place  in  our  literature  since  the  commencement  of  the  last  century.  We 
have  seen,  in  our  day,  considerable  improvements,  alterations  at  least,  in  our  written 
language,  our  style  of  composition,  and  some  in  our  alphabet.  Once  we  had  but  twenty- 
four  letters,  aud  called  z  ezzard,  and  used  much  the  long  ess.  I  have  before  suggested 
that  I  well  remember  when  some  letters  now  silent  were  then  sounded.  We  once  had 
s-h-e-  w  for  show,  mu-s-i-ck  for  music,  fa- v  o-u-r  for  favor.  In  the  two  last  examples, 
though,  the  wrong  letter  is  retained  ;  yet  one  is  thrown  off  as  useless,  and  that  too  with¬ 
out  unbalancing  the  earth,  or  throwing  it  from  its  orbit!  We  have  begun  to  throw  off 
some  of  our  verbal  terminations,  as  al  from  classical,  and  merit  from  advancement,  and 
lo !  even  this  has  not  clothed  the  nation  with  sackcloth,  nor  filled  the  Euglish  world 
with  lamentation,  mourning,  and  woe!  Now,  why  should  not  the  desirable  change 
hitherto  so  partial,  superficial,  and  sluggish,  by  use  of  proper  means,  like  other  things, 
become  radical  and  rapid,  and  in  some  few  years  be  accomplished  ?  Let  us  take  strong 
interest  in  this  thing  ourselves,  and  by  all  means  endeavor  to  create  one  in  others, 
and  then  be  looking  out  for  desirable  and  glorious  results.  But,  I  beg,  let  no  people 
of  influence  or  authority,  no  parents  or  teachers,  no  friends  of  their  country  or  of  man¬ 
kind,  discourage  or  hinder  this  so  great,  so  necessary,  and  so  benevolent  a  work. 

However,  after  all,  the  grand  preliminary  to  a  general  reception  of  a  plan  for  this 


10 


REFORMED  ALPHABET  AND  ORTHOGRAPHY. 


r  /;  /( 

reformation  is,  Unity  by  its  general  merits,  it  be  found  worthy  of  adoption ,  and  that  this  wor¬ 
thiness  be  extensively  promubjated  (wd  known.  Let  this  suggestion  call  to  my  aid,  from 
any  ladies  or  gentlemei)  of  literature  and  beneficence,  such  helps  in  this  arduous  work 
as  they  may  be  able  freely  to  contribute,  that  a,  plan  for  reformation  be  soon  brought 
as  near  as  possible  to  perfection,  aud  circulated  over  the  nation,  and  among  all  people 
■who  use  our  language. 

I  will  now  give  you  some  remarks  preliminary  to  a  reformed  alphabet  and  orthography. 

After  long  and  close  atteutiou  to  this  whole  matter,  I  am  now  disposed  to  give  my 
present ,  though  imperfect  views  of  the  subject,  concluding  that  I  shall  not,  very  soon, 
be  able  to  bring  it  much  nearer  to  perfection  without  help  from  others. 

I  have  placed  in  succession,  and  according  to  my  ideas  of  the  best  order,  forty  letters , 
twenty-two  old  and  eighteen  new  ones,  each  appropriated  to  its  own  peculiar  primary 
sound,  and  to  that  alone.  The  first  division  of  these  is  into  sixteen  vowe  s  ( each  sub¬ 
ject  to  different  degrees ,  and  some  slight  variation  of  its  own  peculiar  sound),  and  twenty- 
four  consonants  of  different  kinds.  These  letters  are  subdivided  into  seven  different 
sorts,  to  be  noticed  in  the  recital,  and  all  represent  simple  sounds,  except  five,  i,  j,  r, 
w,  aud  y,  which  represent  their  own  peculiar  sounds,  inseparably  combined  with  an¬ 
other  sound,  which  is  marked  by  another  letter. 

Whenever  the  sound  of  y  comes  before  u,  long  or  short,  y  should  be  invariably  placed 
before  it,  as  in  yule,  young,  and  then  these  sounds  of  u  would  be  always  both  simple  aud 
ui  iform. 

I  exemplify  no  sounds  but  purely  English,  or  such  as  have  become  fully  Anglicized, 
although  some  are  still,  in  the  old  orthography,  found  in  their  ancient  or  foreign  cos¬ 
tumes. 

The  forms  of  the  letters,  in  both  writing  and  printing,  should  be  kept  as  near  alike 
as  the  nature  of  the  case  will  allow.  This  would  give  great  facility  in  learning  the 
art  of  writing,  and  in  reading  that  which  is  written  by  others,  &c. 

*  *  *  #  *  *  * 

This  reformation  would  tend  greatly,  as  far  as  adopted,  to  promote  uniformity  in 
pronunciation — a  thing  very  desirable.  Its  exactness  in  representing  theproper  sounds 
of  the  words,  and  its  uuiformity  of  spelling,  would  always  tend  to  this  effect. 

For  sake  of  ease  and  pleasantness  of  sound,  most  of  the  unaccented  vowels  are  slowly 
amalgamating  with  short  i,  e,  and  u,  especially  the  latter.  This,  I  conclude,  is  the 
reason  why  there  have  become  so  many  different  methods  of  expressing  these  sounds — 
the  first,  eleven  ;  the  second,  fourteen;  and  the  third,  tweuty-three. 

It  would  be  both  patriotic  and  wise  for  the  men  of  letters  in  Great  Britain  *  *  * 

no  longer  to  be  endeavoring  to  Gallicize,  Germanize,  Latinize,  Hellenize,  or  Hebraize 
our  language ;  but,  by  every  means,  to  Anglicize  it,  and  add  to  it  symmetry,  euphony, 
compactnet-s,  and  distinctive  nationality. 

It  is  probably  the  fact  that  additional  primary  sounds  begin  at  first  slowly  to  appear 
among  the  illiterate  in  some  rough,  uncouth  interjections.  After  a  lapse  of  time,  many 
of  these  become  nouns,  aud  obtain  their  various  attributes,  definitives,  aud  connect¬ 
ives,  aud  finally  acquire  a  respectable  standing  in  language.  Thus,  the  primary  sound 
of  the  Hebrews  and  other  orientals,  ah,  or  a  moderate  sound  of  a  as  in  part,  broken  off 
suddenly  with  an  aspirate  or  a  consonant,  as  in  ah,  pass,  is  taking  its  place,  though  a 
very  modest  one,  in  our  language,  appearing  in  many  interjections,  and  in  some  other 
words,  and  does  therefore  justly  deserve  to  be  marked  by  its  own  distinct  letter,  which 
I  have  given  it.  The  case  is  similar  with  regard  to  o  as  in  oh,  stone,  spoken ,  which  I  have 
also  accommodated  with  a  letter. 

*  *  *  *  *  *  * 

I  take  it  as  a  granted  doctrine  that  the  whole  legitimate  object  of  alphabetic  writing 
is  to  represent  to  the  sight,  as  accurately  and  as  simply*  as  possible,  the  sounds  of  spoken 
words.  Hence  the  written  language  should  always  be  seeking  conformity  to  the  spoken, 
rather  than  the  spoken  to  the  written.  This  would  entirely  prevent  all  future  disagree¬ 
ment  between  our  orthography  and  our  orthoepy,  and  more  fully  represent  the  epistol¬ 
ary  writer’s  living  and  known  sounds  and  tones  used  in  his  common  conversation. 
But  let  all  the  elocutionary  authorities  and  influences  in  our  country,  aud  other  coun¬ 
tries  using  English;  let  all  the  public  speakers,  and  the  authors  and  publishers  of 
standard  works,  constantly  use  their  endeavors  to  promote  uniformity  in  pronunciation, 
aud  of  course,  on  this  plan,  uniformity  of  orthography  also,  wherever  our  language  is 
used. 

******* 

*  Simplicity!  That  is  the  point!  But  this  author’s  scheme,  like  the  rest,  omits  oue 
of  the  first  requisites  of  his  theory  the  moment,  he  attempts  to  reduce  that  theory  to 
practice.  In  theory  we  have  such  requisite  insisted  on  as  above,  and  by  other  authors, 
of  whom  we  will  quote  a  few,  as  follows :  “  Words  are  the  means  by  which  men’s 
thoughts  are  interchanged,  and,  like  other  means  of  language,  their  beauty  and  per¬ 
fection  consists  in  their  simplicity  and  uniform  application.” — Cramp’s  Philosophy  of 
Language. 

“  Stripped  of  its  adventitious  recommendations,  and  judged  on  its  own  merits”  (refer- 


REFORMED  ALPHABET  AND  ORTHOGRAPHY. 


11 


OBJECTIONS  CONSIDERED. 

Written  languages  have  generally  originated  among  people  in  a  greater  or  less  de¬ 
gree  unimproved,  and  are  therefore  liable  to  great  imperfection.  Hence  they  do,  like 
other  things,  however  difficult,  after  a  nation  have  become  far  advanced  in  civilization, 
demand  great  alteration  for  the  better.  This  argument  is  available  with  regard  to 
every  other  concern  of  human  society;  why  not,  then,  to  this?  The  change  herein 
proposed  would  be  a  very  cheap  and  efficient  instrument  to  urge  forward  our  public 
interests  and  honor.  What  dire  calamities  are  we  still  enduring  by  means  of  the  leprous 
productions  of  the  dark  or  almost  barbarous  ages  which  are  now  ponderous  cloys  indeed  to 
our  characteristic  enterprise  and  energy.  How  long  shall  they  remain  for  our  grievous 
national  injury  and  shame  ?  Have  we  not  in  us  yet  some  Saxon ,  some  British  blood  ? — 
some  American  counsel,  skill,  and  independence? — some  Yankee  ingenuity  and  force, 
that  we  may  speedily  demolish,  or  ivhittle  away,  these  sore  evils,  entailed  on  us  by  our 
honored,  though  remote  and  unprivileged,  ancestors?  Then,  let  the  whole  be  stirring 
in  us  and  among  us,  till  there  shall  result  an  achievement  and  a  glory  such  as  the  world 
has  never  seen.  Ay,  indeed,  it  is  high  time  this  grand  affair  were  accomplished,  or 
well  in  progress;  for  truly  it  should  be  done,  it  must  be  done,  yea,  moreover,  it  will  be 
done,  if  our  combined  enterprise  and  courage,  skill  and  energy,  say  so. 

Though  it  seems  that  1  might  stop  here  with  this  general  answer  to  all  objections, 
yet  I  will  come  down  to  some  particulars,  and  use  further  endeavors  to  pacify  the 
objector’s  feelings. 

1.  “It  will  obstruct  the  privilege  of  future  etymological  research.”  I  answer:  Per¬ 
haps  not  one  in  ten  thousand  would  ever  have  occasion  for  this.  Persons  acquainted 
with  other  languages  might  recognize  our  words  of  foreign  origin  about  as  readily 
from  their  sound  and  English  meaning,  united,  as  from  their  dress.  But,  after  all,  the 
chief  object  of  speakers  and  writers,  philologists  and  lexicographers,  should  be  to 
know  the  present  English  or  American  vernacular  meaning  of  words,  irrespective  of 
origin  or  derivation.  Besides,  the  native  orthography  of  all  foreign  words,  the  origi¬ 
nals  of  our  words  derived  from  other  languages,  and  the  old  orthography  of  all  our 
own  words,  as  far  and  as  long  as  necessary ,  might  easily  be  placed  in  some  of  our  dic¬ 
tionaries,  or  all  of  them,  for  needed  accommodation;  and  all  this,  on  the  reformed 
method,  would  not  make  them  so  large  as  they  are  now. 

2.  “The  books  already  in  existence  would  become  useless.”  Answer:  1.  None  valu¬ 
able  need  be  lost,  and  for  the  loss  of  the  rest  no  one  should  mourn.  2.  Both  alphabets 
might  be  learned  while  the  change  is  forming;  thus  all,  for  a  necessary  term,  might 
be  able  to  read  and  write  in  either.  3.  For  consulring  ancient  records,  or  other  fortui¬ 
tous  occasions,  the  old  could  be  learned  in  times  to  come  as  easily  as  in  times  past. 
4.  All  books  worthy  of  it  would  be,  in  due  season,  reprinted  in  the  new  dress,  and 
could  be  afforded  cheaper  than  now. 

3.  “Authors,  publishers,  and  booksellers  would  suffer  loss  in  old  stock.”  Answer:  The 
change  might  be,  and  doubtless  would  be,  regulated  by  these,  and  be  so  gradual  as 
would  give  fair  opportunity  to  dispose  of  old  stock,  and  close  that  mode  of  the  manu¬ 
facture.  Besides,  the  diminution  in  the  expense  of  printing,  and  the  natural  rise  of 
books  in  proportion  to  this  diminished  expense,  would  probably  more  than  cancel  all 
loss,  even  that  in  stereotype  plates.  The  loss  in  movable  types  would  be  trifling;  for 
the  old  capitals  would  be  disused,  the  twenty-six  old  common  letters  would  still  be 
employed,  and,  for  the  present,  no  new  matrices  need  be  formed  for  any  of  the  forty 
letters  or  five  characters,  except  the  expulsion  of  the  dots  from  the  ies  and  jays. 

4.  “The  old,  hard,  dry,  tiresome  methods  of  primary  learning  tend  to  discipline  the 
mind  and  improve  its  faculties,  especially  the  memory.”  Answer :  But  the  easy,  pleas¬ 
ant,  and  interesting  substituted  learning,  all  profitable  in  itself,  would  surely  do  much 
more  toward  this  very  important  object.  This  is  the  dictate  of  nature,  reason,  common 
sense,  and  experience.  Besides,  the  success  of  this  project  would  doubtless  produce  a 
great  and  blessed  revolution  in  the  affairs  of  common  early  education,  and  cause  the 

ring  to  the  alphabet  of  Dr.  Lepsius),  “  we  think  it  deficient  in  simplicity.” — Max  Mul¬ 
ler’s  Science  of  Language. 

But  notwithstanding  this  observation,  Muller  himself  forgot  this  requisite  when 
constructing  his  own  alphabet,  which  seems  also  to  have  signally  failed,  like  that  of 
Dr.  Lepsius,in  the  elements  necessary  to  popular  acceptation. 

“  To  make  a  change  really  useful,  moreover,  it  would  have  to  be  radical,  and  then 
we  are  reduced  at  once  to  phonography,”  (the  very  essence  of  simplicity). — Schele  de 
Verb’s  Studies  in  English. 

The  first  condition  of  a  full  and  perfect  alphabet  and  orthography  is,  “That  for  every 
simple,  single  sound,  incapable  of  being  represented  by  a  combination  of  letters,  there 
be  a  simple,  single  sign.” — Latham  on  English  Language. 

“There  is  nothing  more  admiratde  uor  more  useful  than  the  invention  of  signs;  at 
the  same  time  there  is  nothing  more  productive  of  error  when  we  neglect  to  observe 
(avoid?)  their  complication.” — Horne  Tooke’s  Diversions  of  Burley. 


12 


REFORMED  ALPHABET  AND  ORTHOGRAPHY. 


time,  character,  and  abilities  of  children  to  be  worth  more  at  twelve  years  of  age  than 
they  usually  have  been  at  sixteen.  There  is,  in  truth,  something  more  agreeable 
and  useful  for  children  to  learn  and  to  do  than  to  be,  for  years  of  their  precious 
time,  toiling  and  delving,  and  plodding  in  most  distressing  and  ruinous  confinement  at 
the  strange  and  dreadful  old  alphabet  and  orthography,  even  if  it  were  nothing  but 
giving  names  to  stones  in  the  wall,  or  the  trees  in  a  grove,  and  committing  them  to 
memory !  Now  I  should  not  think  that  any  would  again  make  this  objection. 

5.  “All  readers  and  writers  must  relearn  to  read  and  write.”  Answer:  The  expense 
aud  inconvenience  of  change  have,  in  this  plan,  been  avoided  as  much  as  possible  ;  and 
I  have  no  doubt,  and  that  from  actual  experiment,  that  good  readers  a  d  writers  in 
the  old  would  learn  to  read  and  write  in  this,  with  proper  assistance,  though  slowly 
at  first,  in  less  than  six  hours.  Dexterity  and  speed  would,  of  course,  be  acquired  by 
use  aud  habit.  Let  none,  then,  be  greatly  troubled  any  more  on  this  score  ;  for  it  is 
no  great  affair  to  learn  the  forms  and  uses  of  eighteen  new  letters  when  the  sounds  are 
already  familiar.  I  trust  that  this  mighty  objection  will  now  no  more  be  urged  by 
people  of  sense  and  wisdom.* 

6.  “Children,  by  much  help  and  stimulating,  usually  get  over,  somehow,  the  chief 
difficulties  in  the  old  literature  before  they  arrive  at  the  proper  age  for  criticising  these 
matters,  and  soon,  forgetting  very  much  their  former  toils  and  sufferings,  their  preju¬ 
dices  become  strong  in  favor  of  the  old  written  language.”  Answer:  Apply  this  argument 
successfully  to  all  subjects,  and  there  is  an  end,  at  once,  to  all  improvements.  We  have 
already  been  governed  quite  too  long  by  the  prepossessions,  the  early  notions  aud 
whims  of  childhood,  and  the  imperious  and  senseless  customs  and  authority  of  the  semi- 
benighted  by-gone  ages.  But  full-grown  men  in  the  present  eventful  and  improving 
age,  and  of  this  free  and  enlightened  country,  should  deliver  themselves  of  childish  and 
half-barbarian  trammels,  aod  dare  to  search,  and  think,  and  speak,  and  act  also,  for 
removing  the  immense  evils  that  enwrap  our  precious,  extending,  and  improving  lit¬ 
erature,  and  that  deprive  it  of  more  than  half  its  value. 

During  how  many  more  years,  ages,  and  generations  must  the  enterprising  posterity 
of  the  brave  settlers  of  this  country,  indeed  our  own  dear  children,  be  unnecessarily 
subject,  in  their  ductile  and  forming  age,  to  the  cruel  labor,  the  tormentiug  vexation, 
and  the  tiresome,  stupefying,  and  deleterious  confinement,  imposed  on  them  as  it  was  on 
us,  before  days  of  maturity  and  independent  inquiry  :  and  all  that,  too,  by  blind  attach¬ 
ment  to  the  awkward,  ugly,  indecent,  clownish,  cumbrous,  hideous  dress  of  our  refined, 
polished,  powerful,  harmonious,  and  delightful  language?  In  the  name  and  pride  of 
our  country,  and  of  all  the  English  race,  I  do  beg  for  our  admirable  lauguage  a  dress 
suited  to  its  character  and  merits.  Do  not,  I  entreat  you,  deem  me  sacrilegious  aud 
monstrously  wicked,  and  deserving  Heaven’s  vengeance,  for  denouncing  and  3lasphem- 
ing  that  paltry,  shapeless  old  idol,  the  coarse  and  bungling  manufacture  of  partly- 
civilized  people,  long  ago  passed  away  and  gone  ;  although,  it  did,  at  vast  pains  and 
expense,  receive  your  obedient  devotions  some  four  or  five  years  of  your  otherwise 
brilliant  and  promising  childhood  and  youth.  * 

Had  a  longer,  a  happier,  and  a  more  productive  course  of  natural,  plain,  interesting, 
and  useful  oral  instructions  been  generally  used  with  children,  and  had  they  not  been 
put  to  artificial  literature  till  able  to  investigate  for  themselves,  this  needed  reformation 
would,  long  ago,  have  been  accomplished,  and  that,  too,  easily  and  freely,  without  rub 
and  tug  and  strife. 

*  #  *  #  #  *  * 

Quite  too  early  in  the  life  of  our  young,  active,  social,  imitative  fello  w-boiugs,  have  we 
dropped,  if  we  evor  began,  free  and  pleasing  oral,  model,  and  sample  instructions  ad¬ 
ministered  kindly,  simply,  and  incidentally  by  affectionate  parents,  or  assistant  parents, 
aud  shut  them  up  in  schools,  and  confined  them  to  artificial  literature.  In  this,  truly, 
we  have  exactly  reversed  the  just  order  of  things.  We  should  have  begun  with  nature 
and  ended  with  art ;  or,  in  other  words,  we  should,  in  the  great  concerns  of  education, 
have  more  obediently,  faithfully,  and  entirely  followed  nature’s  dictates,  from  the  first; 
dawn  of  physical,  sensative,  intellectual,  and  moral  existence,  and  should  have  con¬ 
tinued  thus  to  do,  admitting  art  incipiently  and  occasionally  to  assist  nature  in  her  wise, 
bmeficent,  and  god-like  operations. 

Thoroughly  reform  our  written  language,  and  then  learning  to  read,  spell,  and  write 
would  be  so  easy  that  formal  schools  and  set  lessons  in  sore  and  ruinous  confinement 
would  be  totally  unnecessary.  If  the  previous  education  be  right,  these  valuable 
accomplishments  would,  in  proper  season,  be  sought  after,  and  obtained  incidentally, 
like  other  kinds  of  every-day  business,  as  the  farmer’s  son  learns  to  reap,  and  his  daughter 
to  sweep.  You  may,  therefore,  safely  let  artificial  literature  alone,  till  children  shall 
have  arrived  at  some  age  and  maturity  ;  and  even  then  you  need  not  hurry  or  press 
them  forward  in  it, provided,  however,  that  they,  as  much  as  possible,  under  the  care  of 
parents,  or  assistant  parents,  their  natural  guardians  and  teachers,  have  their  time 

*  Whatever  may  be  said  on  this  point  with  reference  to  the  alphabet  proposed  by 
this  memorialist  may  be  said  with  tenfold  more  reason  with  reference  to  the  simplified 
alphabet  herewith  presented. 


REFORMED  ALPHABET  AND  ORTHOGRAPHY. 


13 


properly  divided  between  interesting,  free,  and  safe  recreations,  proper  manual  labors, 
and  a  good  system  of  oral,  model,  and  sample  instructions,  advancing  spontaneously 
and  delightfully  toward  artificial  literature,  and  into  it,  as  they  approach  adult  years. 
Let  these  be  the  natural  tendencies ,  and  these  the  sure  results  of  any  new  or  improved  system 
of  a  general  primary  education ,  and  then  do  what  you  please  with  the  old  common 
schools;  only  do  not,  at  such  vast  expense,  privation,  and  suffering,  allow  them  to  stun , 
and  stunt,  and  stupefy,  and  stagnate,  and  stultify,  our  dear,  affectionate,  sprightly,  and 
promising  children. 

I  rejoice  that  the  people  of  this  country,  the  cradle  of  civil,  literary,  educational, 
and  religious  light  and  liberty,  are  waking  up,  though  slowly,  to  this  vastly  important 
object,  and  beginning  to  discover  their  errors,  and  the  natural  and  effectual  remedies. 
This,  I  trust,  in  its  onward  progress,  will  contribute  much  toward  the  general  improve¬ 
ment  and  happiness  of  the  rising  generations,  and  much  also  toward  the  radical, 
thorough,  and  timely  reform  of  the  external  dress  and  the  ocular  representation  of 
our  worthy  and  delightful  language. 

(Here  follows  an  illustration  of  the  practical  working  of  this  author’s 
scheme,  after  which  he  proceeds  :) 

In  these  ten  sentences,  according  to  the  old,  there  are  839  letters;  according  to  the 
new  533 ;  the  difference  30 Q— considerably  over  one-tliird.  The  general  average  would 
doubtless  be  quite  one-third  without  the  aforesaid  abbreviations,  and  with  them,  quite 
two-fifths.  Now,  it  is  here  fully  demonstrated,  that  this  reformation  would  save  one- 
third  of  all  the  expense  of  silent  reading,  of  all  writing  and  printing.*  Is  there  not 
here,  then,  an  object  worthy  of  serious  and  general  consideration  ?  And  should  not  those 
who  have  this  matter  under  their  control  feel  their  respousibleness  to  God  and  their 
country,  and  speedily  adopt  this,  or  a  better,  reformed  alphabet  and  orthography? 

It  is  to  be  expected  that  in  this  age  of  invention  and  improvement  there  would  be 
many  unavailing  attempts  at  this  reformation.  But  let  all  well-disposed  undertakers 
be  comforted  and  encouraged  by  the  consideration,  that  every  such  attempt  will  prob¬ 
ably  do  its  share  toward  perfecting  for  our  language  a  system  of  writing  which  will 
finally  be  found  worthy  of  general  adoption ;  its  share,  also,  toward  proving  to  every 
enlightened  and  liberal  mind  the  laboring  and  pressing  necessity  of  such  a  reformation. 

All  herein  contained  is  presented  to  excite  attention  and  discussion,  criticism,  and 
correction,  as  an  essay  toward  preparing  for  future  adoption  all  necessary  improve¬ 
ments  in  the  elements  of  our  swiftly-spreading  literature. 

Having  drawn  thus  freely  upon  an  investigator  of  the  past,  let  us 
turn  briefly  to  the  language  of  a  recent  lecturer  before  an  association 
of  educators  in  one  of  our  largest  cities  : 

It  would  seem  as  if  every  thoughtful  observer  must  admit  that  our  spelling  is  an 
absurd,  unnatural,  illogical,  unreasonable,  aud  contradictory  contrivance.  In  orthog¬ 
raphy  we  are  on  a  boundless  sea  without  rudder  or  compass.  Currents  and  counter¬ 
currents,  eddies  and  whirlpools,  beset  us  on  every  hand.  One  difficulty  mastered  helps 
little  or  none  about  the  next.  Memory  is  almost  our  sole  reliance.  Hence  our  chil¬ 
dren  are  forever  learning  to  spell,  and  adults  are  always  questioning  their  spelling, 
and  ever  and  auon  manipulating  the  lexicon  to  recover  lost  orthography.  No  one  can 
tell  when  he  hears  a  word  for  the  first  time  how  he  must  spell  it  to  pass  muster,  for 
every  word  may  be  written  in  many  different  ways.  For  illustration,  suppose  we  have 
occasion  to  write  the  simple  word  rainbows,  with  no  guide  but  analogy  ;  let  us  see 
what  questions  may  arise.  The  initial  sound  we  find  represented  by  r  (far),  re  (are), 
rt  (mortgage),  rr  (burr),  rps  (corps,)  wr  (write),  rh  (rhyme),  and  rrh  (myrrh).  The 
second  sound  we  find  spelled  by  a  (fame),  ai  (aim),  ay  (day),  aye  (aye),  ao  (gaol),  ag 
(champagne),  e  (fete),  ee  (melee),  ea  (great),  ei  (veil),  ey  (they),  au  (gauge),  et 
(crochet),  uet  (bouquet),  eig  (reign),  eigh  (weigh),  aud  aigh  (straight).  The  third 
sound,  that  of  n,  we  have  found  spelled  in  thirteen  different  ways.  For  the  first  sound 
of  the  second  syllable  we  need  perhaps  decide  only  between  b  and  bb,  and  then  make 
choice  of  one  of  the  twenty-one  spellings  of  o  previously  given,  which  will  bring  us  to 
the  final  sound  and  set  us  to  choosing  among  z  (zone),  zz  (buzz),  zo  (size),  s  (as),  ss 
(hussy),  es  (thieves),  se  (disease),  ce  (suffice),  sp  (raspberry),  and  x  (beaux).  After 
due  deliberation  we  might  perhaps  settle  on  something  like  this :  wrheighkn- 
bboughzzex — the  x  being  appended  partly  to  indicate  that  after  all  our  pains  the  cor¬ 
rect  spelling  is  unknown. 

When  teaching  school  many  years  ago  at  Sugartown,  a  sweet  little  village  in  Penn¬ 
sylvania,  I  used  to  spell  the  name  of  the  town  thus  :  sboulgueyrrhphthoughku.  This 
spelling  is  justified  analogically  by  the  following  words:  (shoul)d,  ro(gue),  m(yrrh), 
(phth)isic,  pl(ough),  (kn)ow. 

*  We  have  already  endeavored  to  show  how  to  save  immensely  upon  this  saving , page  3. 


14 


REFORMED  ALPHABET  AND  ORTHOGRAPHY. 


How  many  times  have  you  been  obliged  to  refer  to  the  dictionary  to  ascertain 
whether  to  spell  it  able  or  ible  ?  and  perhaps  then  you  found  it  eble,  as  in  dele- 
ble,  while  it  is  ible  in  indelible.  It  would  take  a  bright  boy  a  longtime  to  master 
the  orthography  of  this  little  suffix  alone.  He  w  ould  be  furnished  no  less  a  task  in 
words  ending  with  the  syllable  heard  in  winter,  dollar,  honor,  murmur,  fakir,  and 
theatre  ;  and  after  he  had  memorized  all  words  of  this  termination,  as  to  whether  they 
should  end  in  er,  ar,  or,  ur,  ir,  or  re  ;  if  he  had  any  time  left  he  might  settle  up  with 
1  and  11,  s  and  ss,  and  all  the  rest  of  the  doubles.  Next,  he  might  take  w'ords  ending 
in  the  u  sound,  as  prison,  cousin,  deepen,  in  the  last  syllable  of  which  there  is  no  vow.el 
sound,  and  remember  if  he  can  whether  the  useless  letter  in  each  particular  word  iso, 
i,  or  e.  In  this  list  I  have  not  included  such  words  as  sylvan,  mountain,  surgeoD,  im¬ 
agine,  because  when  distinctly  pronounced  there  is  a  slight  difference  between  the  last 
syllable  of  these  and  the  others,  though  as  ordinarily  uttered  the  difference  is  not  ap¬ 
parent. 

If  our  bright  boy  be  not  surrounded -by  the  cares  and  duties  of  manhood  ere  he  gets 
through  with  the  work  suggestod,  he  might  next  take  up  the  very  common  termina¬ 
tion  shn,  and  question  all  words  of  that  ending  as  to  whether  they  must  conclude  with 
tion  (motion),  cean  (ocean),  tian  (Egyptian),  shion  (fashion),  shen  (Goshen),  sion  (ornis- 
tion),  cian  (physiciau),  cion  (coercion),  chion  (falchion),  or  shun,  which  would  be  better 
than  any  of  the  other  spellings.  When  our  pupil  had  completed  all  these  tasks  be 
would  have  made  o<  ly  a  beginning.  No  wouder  one  of  our  city  preachers  wrote  so 
sorrowfully  in  response  to  an  invitation  to  take  part  in  a  spelling-match  when  the 
fever  was  on  two  years  ago.  Hear  him  : 

“  March  25, 1875. 

“  O.  C.  Gibbs  : 


“Dear  Sir:  I  shall  be  out  of  the  city  Friday  evening,  and  hence  shall  not  be 
able  to  attend  the  spelling-trial  of  that  evening.  Could  I  be  present,  my  remarks 
would  be  of  a  melancholy  nature.  When  I  look  out  upon  the  outrageous  con¬ 
duct  of  the  vowels  aud  consonants  that  make  up  our  English,  the  scene  is  ‘  sad  and 
dreary,’  and  I  4  would  not  live  always.’  The  English  language  should  be  abolished. 

“No  doubt  intemperance  will  pass  away,  the  sources  of  the  Nile  will  be  approached 
by  railway,  aud  will  be  decorated  with  a  depot  aud  a  restauraut,  a  bishop  will  be 
agreed  upon  for  our  diocese,  the  North  Branch  will  abound  in  brook  trout ;  but  the  man 
who  shall  look  out  upon  that  happy  age  will  sit  down  at  his  table  and  mourn  as  he 
tries  to  spell  out  a  simple  letter  to  his  grandmother,  and  the  lunatic  asylum  will  be 
full  of  those  who  went  crazy  over  an  effort  to  stand  up  last  in  spelling-school. 

“With  irrepressible  grief,  yours, 

“DAVID  SWING.” 


It  is  to  be  hoped  that  intemperance  is  on  the  wane;  Stanley  is  working  at  the  Nile 
problem ;  it  is  certain  our  diocese  has  its  bishop  ;  I  cannot  say  as  to  the  prospect  of 
trout  in  the  North  Branch ;  but  I  purpose  to  do  what  in  me  lies  to  keep  those  poor 
fellows  out  of  the  lunatic  asylum  by  doing  away  with  the  need  of  spelling-schools. 


In  conclusion,  I  borrow  the  following  from  a  speech  delivered  a  few 
days  ago  at  Saint  Louis,  before  the  fifth  annual  meeting  of  the  National 
Spelling-Reform  Association,  bv  Prof.  William  T.  Harris,  superintendent 
of  the  public  schools  of  Saint  Louis,  who  took  strong  grounds  in  favor 
of  a  phonetic  system  of  orthography  : 

Th*  Romanic  or  common  alphabet  consists  of  26  letters,  which  are  supposed  to  repre¬ 
sent,  singly  or  combined,  all  the  sounds  in  the  English  language — 21  consonants  aud  5 
vowels.  But  there  are  in  the  English  language,  as  spoken,  12  vowels,  4  diphthongs,  22 
consonants,  34  in  all,  exclusive  of  diphthongs.  Then  the  Romanic  alphabet  must  vio¬ 
late  Latham’s  fourth  law,  that  “  only  one  sound  shall  be  expressed  by  one  sigu.”  Yes, 
as  Mr.  Ellis  has  shown  in  his  tables  appended  to  the  “Plea  for  Phonetic  Spelling,”  the 
letter  “  a  ”  has  7  sounds,  “  e  ”  has  also  7,  “  i  ”  has  6,  “  o  ”  has  11,  “u  ”  has  8,  and  “  y,”  as  a 
vowel,  has  3  ;  an  average  of  7  sounds  to  each  of  these  simple  signs.  But  this  would 
not  be  bad  were  it  all.  The  third  law  of  Latham,  that  “no  sound  have  more  than  oue 
sign,”  is  disregarded  even  more  flagrantly.  The  vowel  sound  of  e,  heard  iu  “meet”  is 
represented  by  no  fewer  than  40  different  signs  and  combinations  of  signs ;  a.  as  heard 
in  “mate,”  by  34;  o,  in  “mote,”  by  34  also. 

In  short,  if  we  view  the  alphabet  in  this  light,  it  consists  not  of  26  letters  only,  but 
of  more  than  200 ! 

As  Chambers  remarks,  in  his  “  Papers  for  the  People,”  “  we  violate  every  principle  of 
a  sound  alphabetical  system  more  outrageously  than  any  nation  whatsoever.  Our 
spelling  cannot  be  matched  for  whimsical  caprice.  If  ‘  myrrh  ’  be  mer,  why  not ;  syrrh,’ 
sir ;  4  through,’  throo ;  ‘  tough,’  to  ;  1  bough,’  how ;  ‘  cough,’  cow  ;  ‘  noise,’  hoise  for  1  boys’  ; 
4  tongue,’  liongue  for  ‘  hung  ’ ;  ‘  quay,’  may  for  1  me  ’ ;  1  colonel,’  in-folonel  for  4  infernal  ’ ; 
‘neighbor,’  leighhor  for  1  labor’?” 


REFORMED  ALPHABET  AND  ORTHOGRAPHY. 


15 


The  word  “  scissors,”  it  has  been  mathematically  demonstrated,  can  be  spelled  7)90,580 
different  modes,  and  have  Romanic  analogies  to  authorize  each  spelling!  Some  are 
extravagant,  as  schiessourrhce ,  justified  by  schism,  sieve,  scissor,  honour,  myrrhe,  and 
sacrifice. 

Shakespeare  might  be  spelled  Schaighkespeighrrhe.  Sheridan,  the  anther  of  an  En¬ 
glish  pronouncing  dictionary,  says :  “  Such  is  the  state  of  our  written  language  that  the 
darkest  hieroglyphics,  or  most  difficult  ciphers  that  the  art  of  men  has  invented,  weie 
not  better  calculated  to  conceal  the  sentiments  of  those  who  used  them,  from  those  who 
had  not  the  key,  than  the  srate  of  our  spelling  is  to  conceal  the  true  pronunciation  of 
our  words  from  all  except  a  few  well-educated  natives.”  And  Walker,  iu  the  preface 
to  his  pronouncing  dictionary,  says :  “  The  orthography  and  pronunciation  differ  so 
widely  that  Dr.  Watts  and  Dr.  Jones  lay  it  down  as  a  maxim  in  their  treatises  on  spell¬ 
ing  that  all  words  which  can  be  sounded  different  ways  must  be  written  according  to 
that  mode  which  is  the  most  distant  from  the  true  pronunciation.” 

But,  unfortunately,  no  rule  whatever  can  be  made,  not  even  that  rule.  It  is  confi¬ 
dently  asserted  that  there  are  not  oue  hundred  words  in  the  whole  English  language 
that  are  spelled  according  to  phonetic  principles. 

This  makes  it  an  effort  to  the  memory  to  learn  the  spelling  of  each  word  separately, 
and  the  following  are  the  results  : 

1.  It  stands  in  the  way  of  a  sound,  comprehensive  national  education.  Hence  the 
prevalence  of  illiterates. 

2.  No  one  is  certain  how  to  pronounce  a  word  he  has  only^een  written  and  never 
heard  spoken. 

3.  No  one  is  sure  how  a  word  is  spelled  which  he  has  only  heard  pronounced,  and  never 
seen  written. 

4.  It  throws  a  barrier  in  the  way  of  all  sound  and  accurate  philological  research. 

As  confirmation  of  these  principles,  in  England  and  Wales  (according  to  the  British 

Quarterly  Review),  in  1846,  nearly  one-half  the  people  were  unable  to  write  their  names, 
and  five  millions  ui  able  to  read  their  mother  tongue.  Iu  fact,  there  are  at  least  five 
years  as  good  as  thrown  away  learning  the  mass  of  heterogeneous  conventionalities 
dignified  by  the  name  of  orthography  (the  Greek  words  orthos  and  grapho ),  correct  writ¬ 
ing  (?).  Heterography  has  been  suggested  as  a  word  which  would  more  aptly  express 
it,  i.  e.,  various  writing. 

If  the  phonetic  alphabet  were  adopted,  these  five  years  would  be  saved,  aud  could 
be  devoted  to  useful  science. 

There  would  also  result  a  uniformity  of  pronunciation,  because  all  people  would  write 
just  as  correctly  as  they  speak,  and  we  should  have  the  pronunciation  of  the  best  authors 
daguerreotyped  for  us.  Another  very  weighty  consideration  is  this,  the  child  who  is 
just  commencing  his  education  should  have  something  consistent  and  logical,  method¬ 
ical  and  philosophical,  to  employ  his  mind  upon,  rather  than  something  without  either 
analogy  or  system  ;  for  these  first  impressions  have  sometimes  the  power  to  change  and 
fix  the  whole  bent  of  the  mind. 

It  has  been  demonstrated  by  actual  experiment  that  children  will  learn  to  spell  the 
English  language  far  more  correctly,  and  in  one-half  the  time,  by  first  learning  to 
read  in  the  phonetic  way,  which  can  be  done  iu  a  few  days. 

Dr.  Stone,  of  Boston,  proved  this  several  times. 

Iu  this  matter  we  of  Saint  Louis  can  speak  with  positive  experience.  In  the  fall  of 
1866  the  phonetic  modification  of  the  alphabet,  as  invented  by  Dr.  Edwin  Leigh,  was 
tried  in  one  of  our  public  schools  as  au  experiment,  and  the  following  year  it  was 
adopted  throughout  the  public  schools  of  this  city,  where  it  has  ever  since  retained  its 
place.  By  this  system  the  child  has  a  perfectly  phonetic  alphabet  in  so  far  as  “  one 
sound  for  each  character”  is  concerned,  although  it  violates  the  third  law  of  Latham 
in  having  more  than  one  character  for  the  same  sound.  Yet,  even  with  this,  we  find 
the  following  advantages  in  the  system,  which  is  still  in  use  with  us  after  ten  years  : 

1.  Gain  in  time — a  saving  of  one  year  out  of  the  thtee  years  usually  occupied  in 
learning  to  call  off  easy  words  at  sight. 

2.  Distinct  articulation,  the  removal  of  foreign  accent  and  of  local  and  peculiar  in¬ 
tonations.  v 

3.  The  development  oflogical  power  of  mind  in  the  pupil.  He  can  safely  be  taught 
to  analyze  a  word  into  its  sounds  and  to  find  the  letters  representing  them,  whereas 
with  the  ordinary  orthography  it  is  an  insult  to  his  reason  to  assure  him  that  a  sound 
is  represented  by  any  particular  letter.  Hence,  analytical  power  is  trained  instead  of 
mere  memory,  from  the  day  of  his  entrance  into  school — aud  analytic  power  is  the 
basis  of  all  thinking  activity. 

As  to  the  popular  dread  which  lies  under  the  proposed  change  of  orthography,  the  in¬ 
troduction  of  a  new  language,  there  would  not  be  so  much  difference  between  phonetic 
print  and  that  ordinarily  used  now,  as  there  is  between  the  English  used  now  and  that 
of  Spenser,  and  we  can  read  them  without  much  difficulty. 

All  foreign  names,  e.  g.,  geographical  names,  would  then  be  easily  reduced  to  a  cor¬ 
rect  pronunciation,  and  missionaries  could  easily  reduce  unwritten  language  to  writing' 
a  thing  which  has  been  tried  with  a  phonetic  alphabet  with  eminent  success. 


16 


REFORMED  ALPHABET  AND  ORTHOGRAPHY. 


The  disuse  of  silent  letters  will  reduce  the  bulk  of  books  one-tenth  part,  and  save  in 
the  item  of  books  millions  of  dollars  per  annum. 

There  is  another  objection  brought  against  the  phonetic  system,  viz:  that  it  would 
so  obscure  the  etymologies  of  words  as  to  render  it  impossible  to  distinguish  them  from 
the  words  spelled  phonetically.  But  the  great  philologists  depend  upon  phonetic 
analysis  in  their  profound  investigations  into  the  primitive  state  of  a  language  ;  and 
the  philologist  knows  that  it  would  be  of  exceeding  value  to  know  that  a  nation  used 
a  phonetic  alphabet ;  for  then  one  could  immediately  determine  the  pronunciation 
which  gets  lost  as  the  nation  changes. 

If  a  phonetic  basis  had  always  been  used  we  could  tell  now  exactly  how  Shakes¬ 
peare  pronounced  his  living  words,  or  how  Chaucer  read  his  Canterbury  Tales. 

But  suppose  we  could  not  determine  the  etymology  as  well  as  before?  Are  we  to 
sacrifice  all  beauty  and  symmetry  in  the  language  ?  Are  we  to  consume  five  years  in 
the  life  of  every  youth  just  to  make  it  easier  for  one  scholar  in  a  thousand  men  (there 
are  hardly  so  many  as  that,  even),  to  save  him  the  trouble  of  consulting  his  copy  of  a 
dictionary  ?  But  there  is  no  basis  of  argument  here,  for  plionotypy  restores  and 
reveals  three  analogies  of  language,  where  it  obscures  one.  Dr.  Franklin,  in  1768, 
favored  the  idea  of  a  phonetic  alphabet,  and  answered  all  the  objections  very 
plainly  in  a  letter  to  Miss  Stevenson.  He  says :  “  The  objection  you  make  to  rectifying 
our  alphabet,  ‘that  it  will  be  attended  with  inconveniences  and  difficulties/  is  a  nat¬ 
ural  one,  for  it  always  occurs  when  a  reformation  is  proposed,  whether  in  religion,  gov¬ 
ernment,  or  laws,  even  dpwn  to  roads  and  wheel-carriages. 

“The  true  question,  then,  is  not  whether  there  will  be  no  difficulties  or  inconvenien¬ 
ces,  but  whether  the  difficulties  may  not  be  surmounted,  and  whether  the  conveniences 
wrill  not,  on  the  whole,  be  g' eater  than  the  inconveniences.  In  this  case  the  difficulties 
are  only  in  the  beginning  of  the  practice ;  when  they  are  once  overcome,  the  advantages 
are  lasting.  To  either  you  or  me,  who  spell  well  in  the  present  mode,  I  imagine  the 
difficulty  of  changing  that  mode  for  the  new  is  not  so  great  but  that  we  might  perfectly 
get  over  it  in  a  week’s  writiug.  As  to  those  who  do  not  spell  well,  if  the  two  difficul¬ 
ties  are  compared,  viz,  that  of  teaching  them  true  spelling  in  the  present  mode,  and 
that  of  teaching  them  the  new  alphabet,  and  the  new  spelling  according  to  it,  I  am 
confident  that  the  latter  would  be  far  the  best.  They  naturally  fall  into  the  new 
method  already  as  much  as  the  imperfection  of  their  alphabet  will  admit  of;  their 
present  bad  spelling  is  only  bad  because  contrary  to  present  bad  rules  ;  under  the  new 
rules  it  would  be  good.  The  difficulty  of  learning  to  spell  well  in  the  old  way  is  so 
great  that  few  attain  it,  thousands  and  thousands  writing  on  to  old,  old  age  without 
ever  being  able  to  acquire  it.” 

Having  compiled  thus  freely  from  the  most  respectable  and  authori¬ 
tative  sources  in  proof  of  the  great  necessity  of  this  reform,  and  point¬ 
ing  to  the  numerous  learned  societies  and  numberless  individuals  in  this 
country  and  Great  Britain  devoted  to  the  advancement  of  this  cause, 
allow  your  memorialist  now  respectfully  to  offer  a  scheme  which  he  has 
had  under  consideration  for  over  three  years,  and  which  he  confidently 
believes  will  serve  as  a  basis  of  reform,  at  least  worthy  of  consideration. 

It  will  be  observed  that  I  have  kept  in  view  some  points  already  re¬ 
ferred  to : 

1.  Dr.  Latham’s  six  essential  conditions  of  a  perfect  alphabet ; 

2.  That  capitals  and  the  small  letters  should  be  of  the  same  form  ; 

3.  That  the  forms  of  the  letters  in  both  writing  and  printing  should 
be  as  nearly  alike  as  the  nature  of  the  case  will  allow ; 

4.  That  the  Roman  letters  should  give  way  to  the  phonographic ; 

5.  That  while  it  should  be  arranged  with  special  reference  to  the  prac¬ 
tical  requirements  of  the  English  language,  it  should  also  present  the 
basis  of  a  universal  or  missionary  alphabet; 

6.  That  the  present  orthography  is  not  likely  to  become  obsolete  at 
once,  and  therefore  the  desirability  of  a  phonetic  alphabet  from  which  the 
transition  to  the  ordinary  orthography  may  be  as  easy  as  possible.  The 
child  having  commenced  his  education  by  learning  this  alphabet  and  ac¬ 
quiring  some  idea  of  the  true  theoretical  relation  between  the  written 
and  the  spoken  language,  the  design  is  to  provide  a  text-book  printed  in 
a  compound  character  or  type,  in  which  the  Roman  letter  is  united  with 
the  phonographic,  the  latter  being  the  more  prominent  in  letters  that 


REFORMED  ALPHABET  AND  ORTHOGRAPHY. 


17 


should  be  sounded,  and  omitted  from  silent  letters  in  words  of  the  ordi¬ 
nary  spelling  ;  thus  distinctly  presenting  both  the  correct  pronunciation 
and  the  current  authorized  orthography. 

PHONETIC  ALPHABET, 

with  a  few  examples  of  the  compound  letter: 


\ 

2 

\ 

3  l 

1 

5 

/ 

6 

/ 

7 

8 

9  V 

10 

11 

( 

12 

( 

“  ) 

“  ) 

15 

y 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

r 

22 

r 

23 

> 

24 

25 

0 

26 

0 

27 

Q 

28 

0 

29 

0 

30 

0 

31 

0 

32 

0 

33 

0 

34 

0 

35 

0 

36 

0 

37 

0' 

38 

0 

39 

© 

40 

@ 

41 

. 

42 

0 

43 

© 

“  } 

45 

The  powers  of  these  characters  are  as  follows : 

1.  The  sound  of  p  in  pay  or  cap. 

2.  The  sound  of  b  in  bay ,  or  bb  in  ebb. 

3.  The  sound  of  t  in  tame ,  or  ed  in  looked. 

4.  The  sound  of  d  in  dame,  or  ed  in  loved. 

5.  The  sound  of  eh  in  chest ,  or  tch  in  watclu 

6.  The  sound  of  j  iu  jest ,  or  g  in  gem. 

7.  The  sound  of  k  in  kelt ,  or  c  iu  can. 

8.  The  sound  of  g  in  gilt,  or  gue  in  league. 

9.  The  sound  of  /in  fan ,  orjp/i  iu  phase . 

10.  The  sound  of  v  in  van ,  or /  in  of. 

11.  The  sound  of  th  in  pith,  or  in  think. 

12.  The  sound  of  th  in  thy,  or  the  in  breathe. 

13.  The  sound  of  s  in  seal,  or  c  in  icy. 

H.  Mis.  23 - 2 


18 


REFORMED  ALPHABET  AND  ORTHOGRAPHY. 


14.  The  sound  of  z  in  zeal ,  or  s  in  was. 

15.  The  sound  of  sh  in  shun ,  or  s  in  sure. 

16.  The  sound  of  z  in  azure ,  or  s  in  vision. 

17.  The  sound  of  n  in  no ,  or  Icn  in  hnow. 

18.  The  sound  of  ng  in  singer ,  or  n  in  finger. 

19.  The  sound  of  m  in  man ,  or  in 

20.  The  sound  of  h  in  or  wh  in  whole. 

21.  The  sound  of  l  in  lay ,  or  Zw  in 

22.  The  sound  of  y  in  you,  or  e  in  euchre. 

23.  The  sound  of  r  in  right ,  or  wr  in  write. 

24.  The  sound  of  w  in  wade .  or  u  in  persuade. 

25.  The  sound  of  a  in  arm,  or  ua  in  guard. 

26.  The  sound  of  a  in  ate ,  or  ai  in  pain. 

27.  The  sound  of  e  in  mete,  or  i  in  machine. 

28.  The  sound  of  a  in  at,  or  ai  in  plaid. 

29.  The  sound  of  e  in  met,  or  a  in  many. 

30.  The  sound  of  i  in  pin,  or  o  in  women. 

31.  The  sound  of  a  in  fall,  or  ough  in  ought. 

32.  The  sound  of  o  in  note,  or  eau  in  beau. 

33.  The  sound  of  o  in  prove,  or  u  in  rule. 

34.  The  souud  of  o  in  don,  or  a  in  ward.  4  A 

35.  The  sound  of  u  in  cup ,  or  o  in  love. 

36.  The  sound  of  u  in  bull ,  or  oo  in  foot. 

37.  The  sound  of  i  in  hite,  or  eigh  in  sleight. 

38.  The  souud  of  ow  in  cow ,  or  ough  in  plough. 

39.  The  sound  of  oi  in  boil ,  or  oy  in  boy. 

40.  The  sound  of  ew  in  new ,  or  eau  in  beauty. 

41.  42,  and  43  equivalent  to  1,  2,  and  3,  respectively. 

44.  The  sound  of  c  in  place,  equivalent  of  No.  13. 

45.  The  sound  of  G  in  Cameron,  equivalent  of  No.  7. 

Since  writing  the  above,  my  attention  has  been  directed  to  the  follow¬ 
ing  article  bearing  upon  this  question,  published  in  one  of  our  most  in¬ 
fluential  journals : 

SPELLING  REFORM — GREAT  MOVEMENT  IN  ENGLAND  TO  SIMPLIFY  ORTHOGRAPHY — A 
HUNDRED  SCHOOL-BOARDS  DEMAND  A  COMMISSION. 

[London  Times,  January  19.] 

Yesterday  afternoon  a  very  large  deputation,  representing  the  Loudon  school-board, 
the  Liverpool,  the  Birmingham,  the  Manchester,  the  Leeds,  and  other  school-boards 
and  a  conference  held  in  May  last  of  scholars  and  philologists,  waited  upon  the  Duke 
of  Richmond  and  Gordon  and  Lord  Sandon  to  urge  that  their  lordships  should  advise 
Her  Majesty’s  Government  to  recommend  the  appointment  of  a  royal  commission  to 
inquire  into  the  subject  of  English  spelling,  with  a  view  to  reforming  it  in  the  inter¬ 
ests  of  education.  The  London  school-board  was  represented  by  Sir  Charles  Reed,  Sir 
John  Bennett,  Professor*  Gladstone,  F.  R.  S.,  Mr.  Freeman,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Angus,  the 
Rev.  G.  M.  Murphy,  Mr.  Heller,  Mr.  Richardson.  Mr.  Sidney  Buxton  ;  and  among  other 
gentlemen  present  were  Mr.  Rathbone,  M.  P. ;  Mr.  Torr,  M.  P. ;  Mr.  Backhouse,  M.  P. ; 
Mr.  Pease,  M.  P. ;  Mr.  H.  Richard,  M.  P. ;  Mr.  Davies,  M.  P.;  Mr.  McArthur,  M.  P. ;  the 
Rev.  W.  Arthur,  M.  A.;  Mr.  T.  Pagliardini ;  Dr.  Hurley,  F.  R.  S. :  Mr.  E.  Chadwick,  C. 
B. ;  Mr.  E.  R.  Hill ;  Dr.  R.  Morris,  &c. 

Sir  Charles  Reed  stated  that  this  large  deputation  represented  school-boards  of  Eng¬ 
land  and  Wales,  as  well  as  other  bodies  interested  in  the  educational  progress  of  the 
people.  In  August,  1876,  the  London  school-board  passed  the  following  resolutions  : 

“(1)  That  this  board  is  of  opinion  that  a  great  difficulty  is  placed  in  the  way  of 
education  by  our  present  method  of  spelling,  and  that  it  is  highly  desirable  that  the 
government  should  be  moved  to  issue  a  royal  commission  for  considering  the  best  man¬ 
ner  of  reforming  and  simplifying  it. 


REFORMED  ALPHABET  AND  ORTHOGRAPHY. 


19 


“  (2)  That  a  copy  of  the  above  resolution  be  forwarded  to  the  Society  of  Arts  and  the 
various  country  school-boards,  inviting  them  to  unite  in  a  joint  representation  to  be 
addressed  to  the  education  department  on  the  subject.” 

Upward  of  100  school-boards  in  England  and  Wales  assented  to  the  proposition,  but 
before  action  could  be  taken  to  ask  the  government  to  issue  a  royal  commission  the 
board  came  to  an  end.  Under  the  new  board,  in  1877 — a  board  largely  composed  of 
new  members — the  propositions  were  distinctly  reaffirmed,  and  131  other  school-boards 
of  the  country  gave  their  direct  assent  to  the  proposals,  69  signing  a  memorial  to  be 
laid  before  the  department.  Some  boards,  such  as  Birmingham,  Bradford,  Chigwell, 
Kingston -on-Hull,  and  Southampton,  had  either  sent  in  separate  memorials  or  trans¬ 
mitted  separate  resolutions,  and  a  conference  of  eminent  scholars  and  philologists, 
meeting  at  the  society  of  arts,  had  also  concurred  in  the  appeal  to  the  government  for 
an  inquiry  by  royal  commission.  They  came  simply  to  ask  for  this  inquiry,  and  they 
begged  to  point  out  that  the  question  of  reforming  the  English  spelling  affected  not 
only  this  country,  but  every  country  where  the  English  language  was  spoken.  This 
was  not  brought  before  the  department  as  a  matter  of  finance,  although  no  doubt  it 
would  be  a  saving  to  the  ratepayers  and  a  saving  fb  the  parents  if  there  were  a  sim¬ 
plified  spelling. 

Professor  Gladstone  stated  that  it  was  found  on  comparing  the  progress  made  in 
education  by  English  children  with  the  progress  made  by  children  in  some  continental 
countries,  where  spelling  was  more  simple,  that  the  foreign  children  learnt  to  read  and 
spell  with  striking  rapidity.  If,  for  instance,  the  English  language  had  a  spelling  as 
simple  as  the  Italian  or  German,  there  would  be  a  saving  in  the  school-life  of  every 
English  child  of  a  year’s  time,  and  this  time  might  be  occupied  in  the  technical  edu¬ 
cation  acknowledged  to  be  lacking  in  our  artisans.  The  spelling  of  English  had  al¬ 
ways  been  changing,  as  was  seen  in  our  literature,  and  it  was  a  well-founded  complaint 
that  various  systems  were  adopted  in  the  country.  It  was  not  for  the  school-board  to 
say  which  of  the  systems  of  spelling  should  be  adopted,  or  what  changes  should  be 
made ;  but  they  simply  asked  for  an  inquiry  into  the  subject,  in  order  to  point  out  a 
remedy  for  the  present  anomalous  condition  of  spelling. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Angus  observed  that  elementary  education,  and,  to  some  exteut,  higher 
education,  were  public  questions,  provided  for  by  the  rates  and  taxes,  and  that,  there¬ 
fore,  it  was  a  question  lor  the  government  whether  there  should  be  any  factitious 
difficulties  created  in  the  way  of  education  by  an  imperfect  svstem  of  spelling.  Then, 
too,  parents  who  had  hitherto  had  the  control  of  their  children  were  now  forbidden 
to  send  their  children  to  work  until  these  children  were  efficiently  educated,  and  if 
nothing  was  done  to  lessen  the  difficulties  of  education  the  working  classes  would 
turn  against  the  pressure  now  placed  upon  them.  The  government,  by  reason  of  the 
examinations  under  commissioners,  had  become  the  examining  body  of  the  kingdom, 
and  the  rules  which  the  government  chose  to  lay  down  in  regard  to  spelling  would  be 
followed  everywhere,  so  that  the  government  had  a  distinct  power  in  this  matter. 
The  educationalists  of  the  country  desired  to  teach  knowledge,  and  they  urged  that 
the  acquisition  of  knowledge  should  not  be  barred,  as  at  present,  by  the  anomalous 
spellings  of  our  language.  The  difficulties  presented  by  these  various  spellings  were 
seen  in  the  reports  of  the  civil  service  commissioners,  who  stated  that  a  large  num¬ 
ber  of  failures  to  pass  the  examinations  were  due  to  spelling,  so  that  this  was  a  proof 
that  rich  and  poor  were  alike  interested  in  the  settlement  of  a  standard  system. 

Dr,  Morris  drew  attention  to  the  points  which  had  come  before  the  meeting  of  phil¬ 
ologists.  # 

Mr.  Ellis  read  a  letter  from  Prof.  Max  Miiller,  who  said,  “I  fully  authorize  you  to 
state  that  I  have  never  changed  the'  opinions  which  I  expressed  in  the  Fortnightly 
Review  on  the  scientific  aspects  of  phonetic  spelling,  and  that  I  am  as  fully  convinced 
as  ever  of  the  advantages  of  a  spelling  reform.” 

Mr.  H.  Richard,  M.  P.,  stated  that  there  was  a  great  desire  upon  the  part  of  the 
Welsh  people  to  acquire  the  English  language,  but  they  were  greatly  debarred  from  it 
by  the  arbitrary  spelling. 

The  Rev.  W.  Arthur,  M.  A.,  and  Mr.  T.  Pagliardini  afterward  addressed  their  lord- 
ships. 

Lord  Sandon  had  to  leave  before  all  the  speakers  had  finished,  and  he  expressed  him¬ 
self  as  greatly  interested  by  what  he  heard. 

His  grace,  the  president,  in  reply,  said  that  all  present  were  agreed  upon  one  point, 
and  that  was  on  the  very  great  importance  of  the  question  which  they  had  brought, 
before  the  department,  as  one  affecting  the  education  of  the  people  of  this  country. 
The  question  was  of  such  great  importance  and  large  extent  that  those  represented  by 
the  deputation  considered  it  could  not  be  dealt  with  in  any  satisfactory  way  other 
than  by  the  Crown  being  advised  to  issue  a  commission  to  inquire  into  the  matter ;  and 
so  grave  a  subject  was  it,  and  one  pregnant  with  such  an  amount  of  difficulty,  that 
the  honorable  member  for  Liverpool  had  guarded  himself  and  the  board  he  represented 
from  venturing  to  assert  that  such  a  change  was  practicable.  This  fact  would  show 
how  considerable  and  difficult  the  subject  was.  The  deputation  would  well  understand 


20 


REFORMED  ALPHABET  AND  ORTHOGRAPHY. 


that  he  could  not  venture  to  express  his  own  opinion  upon  the  subject,  but  lie  would 
place  fairly  before  his  colleagues  the  views  which  had  been  put  before  him  with  great 
c  learness  by  the  speakers. 

Sir  Charles  Reed,  in  thanking  the  minister,  observed  that  the  Liverpool  school-board 
had  signed  the  memorial  of  the  school-board  for  Loudon,  asking  for  a  royal  commis¬ 
sion. 

r'  deputation  then  retired. 

i-  rein  contained  is  presented  to  excite  attention  and  discussion, 
>d  correction,  as  an  essay  toward  preparing  for  future  adop- 
ecessary  improvement,  in  the  elements  of  our  swiftly-spread- 
cerature.77 

O 


* 


